RIVER MERSEY - Stockport

[Kayak Maccaz]

Has anyone got any experience of paddling the Mersey from Ford Street, Stockport access? Is the weir shootable and also the Brinksway weir further down the river?
There are guided trips organised locally but they only seem to paddle from Burnage Rugy Club access and this is where I usually start from but would like to begin from Ford Street. Any advice welcome, thanks.

[andypagett]

No experience, but it's on my list :)

Here's the guide for it - http://www.stockport.gov.uk/2013/2978/8 ... w=Standard

Some of the weirs are shootable, one is deadly (anti scour lip), so have a ready first :)

Shove "Mersey Canoe Trail" in to Google too, and there are some reports with pics of the weirs on Song of the Paddle.

[Pete K]

Done from Ford Street to the bottom of the big sloping weir at Northenden. Low to medium flow, certainly not spate. Both wiers in the top section are small vertical weirs easily shot in canoe but would need caution in kayaks for the inexperienced. Portage is apparently okay but we inspected from the water and ran onsite.
Northenden Weir is fine in lower flow and you fire off the bottom really quick! We finished here at the car park. Portage is easy here.

[andypagett]

We ran the stretch down from Burnage RFC to Trafford Metrovik RFC. Level was 0.70 on Brinksway gauge. Northenden weir was fun, and some of the 'riffles' were more than that. The one next to Sale Water Park which loses about 4 feet over the course of its length was quite a hoot!