RIVER ESK (Upper Section to Brotherikeld)

[heybaz]

Had a run down the Lakes Esk this afternoon and caught the usual flack from a couple of fellow river users (fishermen).

Firstly - "did we know that canoeing on the Esk was not allowed as it is a non-navigable river?"
Well, we were navigating it, so didn't really understand that one...

Then - "their Asssociation has a special agreement with the Canoeing organisation - British something or other - which means that we mustn't paddle while they are allowed to fish, some vague blah regarding dates, etc."
OK, but actually I don't buy into any agreement somebody makes on our behalf, without discussion or consultation, so, sorry, and as we're not causing any environmental problem or in fact doing anything wrong, will carry on down...

And, at last - "but it's really not on; I mean if you were licenced and had to pay like we do, that would be ok..."
So - they pay to stand on the bank / riverbed to enable them to fish, while we float down for nowt.... Grounds for complaint then? Or maybe jealousy?

Upshot is that we spent a joyous half hour in conversation and parted on reasonable terms, but oh, how sad and boring on a beautiful day following 20 hours of heavy rain.
On a positive note, they knew of the Greta (Keswick) agreement and shared my view that it is a sensible one which reflects all parties interest in allowing access to all river users balanced with a view to protecting the river environment.

A thought tho; these two guys were blatently in my face to start, but actually wished us well after a bit of a chat. Next time you take flak, even though it's uncalled for, maybe think about stopping and trying to have a conversation. It really can be good to talk....

[Mark R]

Guide.

[Lancs_lad]

Paddled today at 1.0 on the guage. At this level the seven falls have a good amount of water in them (alot more than the pics) and are grade 5 (not 6 - nonsense!!). Our group paddled the bottom three. The rest of the river was a bit scrapey in between the other drops, but the drops had plenty of water in them.