Devils Water – what a name! This river grade III (IV) river is a tributary of the River Tyne and joins the Tyne just west of Corbridge. As you enter Corbridge follow the signs for the A695 and Hexham. This will take you right over the river and will allow a judgement to be madee on the water level. At the bridge near Dilston, the final rapid can be seen, if the rocks are covered the river is worth a go. This is also the preferred get out point.
The get in is very near the hamlet of Steel. A small stone bridge crosses the river just before the hamlet. Enough room can be found to park one or two cars at the most. Please make sure you leave enough room so the bridal way/track can be accessed by farm/forestry workers.
The river is narrow from the start with trees being a real hazard after heavy rain fall. From the “Steel” bridge the river gets off to a bang with a 2m fall within the first few metres. Keep tight to the obvious line and you shouldn’t have any problems. The river then enters a tight gorge with plenty of small boulders/large rocks to negotiate. Small falls follow that are easily shot following the main flow. As you enter Linnel woods Devils Water decends rapidly over a long rock shelf. Along its length a siginificant number of stoppers are created. The shelf itself is channelled in such a way that you boat is always being pushed side on to the stoppers at medium water levels.
At Linnels a road bridge signals a grade III fall. This can be shot in the centre but is pretty tight. After the fall the river eases off until you reach the Scout Camp and a massive horseshoe weir at anything more than lower levels the weir should be portaged as the towback is serious and the ends of the weir are completely enclosed.
After the weir the river picks up a little as you get close to the get out and the final rapid. The route is obvious. The get out can be taken just above the bridge river left or below the bridge river right.
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