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| GUIDE TO EGGLESTON BURN NAME OF RIVER: Eggleston Burn. WHERE IS IT?: In Teesdale! It's a tributary of the River Tees. PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: Follow B 6278 out of Eggleston, put in anywhere when the river comes into view on your left, however approx. 3 miles out of Eggleston a minor road crosses the river, if there is enough water to float here the river is "up". Take out is a bridge where a minor road between B 6278 and Eggleston burn crosses river. LENGTH: 3.5km. TIME: 1 hour. ACCESS: Unknown. WATER LEVELS: This is very much a spate river, see put in details. GRADING: 3 and 4. If the section between the suggested get in at the small bridge is bank full with no hint of a scrape then the gorge will be a full on continuous Grade 4+ with less eddies than you may wish, also the significant drop after the gorge forms a nasty river wide stopper with undercut walls. MAJOR HAZARDS:
Graeme Cranston adds...'wire fence not there, winter 2000/ 01. Last paddled 10.3.02. minor tree strainer (river wide) 2km before the tall road bridge, get off. If you want to continue on to the Tees 1 km below normal getout, at the end of a caravan site a two tree stainer will trap & hold you, portage this one!' GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A good trip. Put in above or below the bridge tunnel. A 1 km warm up gets you ready for the steep, twisty, narrow and very continuous gorge which is difficult to inspect; however all the hazards can be run unseen as long as you are alert. This is a seldom paddled river due to the high levels of rain needed and some may argue there are better trips in the area when there is this much water. OTHER NOTES: If this isn't obscure enough, there is an exciting spate tributary called Little Eggleshope Beck! Antony Mackay (November 2002)...'Paddled this stretch on Sun 27th Oct 02 at a near perfect level. No matter how many times I paddle this river the main rapid/ drop allways sneaks up on you. There is a tiny eddy at the lip of the drop that will hold two boats but no more - as the third member of our group found out and ended up being flushed through the slot backwards - sorry john! The drop actually looks a lot worse than it is but the rapid afterwards would punish any mistakes. The sheep fence is still there at neck height towards the end of the trip!! I disagree that there could be better trips in the area when the conditions are right, short of a trip to the lakes, but if it ain't bank full don't bother as you will spoil the experience. ' CONTRIBUTED BY: Bob Evans and Graeme Cranston, also Antony Mackay. |
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