Path less travelled

[hhzoombird]

A list of nasty little ditches and culverts.
Places you've paddled cos its near your house.
Or near your holiday cottage.
Where the adventure is to see if its navigable, past the invader pondweed and the trollies.
Places that you can't submit to the river list here.
Cos you know that noone would actually enjoy paddling them.
Unless they were a bit strange.
But you did in fact paddle them. Maybe you're a bit strange....

Here's my submission:
The Henmore brook, Ashbourne
Where is it? its a small brook. From Ashbourne, Derbys, to Clifton. 2 miles.
Who went? Me, my brother, his mate.
Did we like it? Yes, it was funny.
Would you like it? No, its a shallow ditch.
grading Its a I. There's a single weir/ shute 45 degrees 2 foot high at one point, and a slight gradient round a corner somewhere else, but it would struggle to be a II. It was pretty shallow too.
Main Hazard: Trying to prevent wobbly mate in dancer from drifting round to backwards - its a bit narrow, there aren't many places for turning a longboat.
In high water you'd have to worry about low bridges, and portage a pipe under the bypass.
Access: Didn't ask. But strangely probably OK - there's annual "Shrovetide football game",
played there every shrove tues for the last 100 years, played mostly in the river - precedent for "access for all"?
Trolly count: 3
Tyre count: 2
Get in: Down a ladder from our garden. But you can use Ashbourne bus station car park.
Get out: Clifton, bridge by the old station. Paddling, you'll know you are nearly there when you
see the clifton shrovetide goal on your left - its a concrete sculpture thing on the bank, looks a bit like a sundial.
Bits we didn't explore before the bus station, brook passes, er, under a carpark.

Other strange places, anyone?

[MarkB]

other strange places, anyone?

One that was in my mind for a while and will hopefully forever stay there...

The River Alt, though here, in it's 'upper reaches' it looks more like a brook.
Where is it? Liverpool, from Stockbridge Village to Croxteth Park, 1 mile at most
Who went? No-one, this was a trip in the mind only
Did I like it? yes, it was safer not being a real trip, and far less smelly too.
Would you like it? I doubt it
grading Its a I and generally too shallow to float a rubber duck but I once saw it become the mighty Alt, rising 5 or 6 feet to the top of it's bank after some particular heavy rain. Water was coming out of the top of nearby manhole covers. Ideal situation to catch Weil's Disease - talking of which...
Main Hazard: water quality. NBC suit required. Once inspired a storyline on Brookside, where a young Katy adopted a project to clean up the local river and (IIRC) came down with a dose of something nasty. I think it also carried or carries the accolade of most polluted river in Britain. Obviously we're talking concentration here rather than volume. I suspect it's been used for illegal small scale dumping, based on one incident I observed but didn't recognise as such until it had time to sink in. Low bridges will be another hazard if and when it's worth paddling; and no you definately don't want to capsize.
Access: You don't see fishermen, I guess 'cos there aren't any fish. You are more likely to come under the remit of the Mental Health Act than the laws of trespass on this river.
Trolley count: 1 that I know of has been there for years. Katy must have missed that one.
tyre count: Not sure - can't believe there aren't any though.
Get in: The Bridge by Brookside, L12 would be one option.
Get out: Somewhere in Croxteth Park. Round the back of Croxteth Hall or just before the river goes under the road on exiting the park.
bits I didn't explore I've only seen what you can see from local roads and footpaths.

[Guest]

River Brue , somerset

where is it ? the bit we paddled was near glastonbury
did we like it ? no , it was terrible but it was close
would you like it ? probably not
grading grade flat with two possibly grade 2 weirs . if u did manage to swim in one of the weirs you probably wouldn't get out due to barbed wire and other junk in the bottom of it (does this make it a 5 ?)
hazards dead sheep . uninviting water colour
description from the layby wade through deep muddy cattle field to river bank . entry involves a seal launch down a 4ft 45 degree bank . this is possibly the highlight of the trip . after getting the front of your boat out of the mud at the bottom of the seal launch paddle upstream for aprox 1km (this can get tiring as the pace of the river increases as you get close to the weir . portage around the first weir and continue upstream for another 500m . after paddling this far you may as well get out and walk round , then paddle down the small 2ft drop you find there . once fun and ammusement has ended at this weir paddle back down to the weir you portaged earlier . this 1ft drop sometimes has a tiny wave at the bottom which can be front surfed - don't capsize as the concrete is shallow and hard . continue downstream and climb out up the 45 degree muddy bank you seal launched down earlier . wipe off the mud , smile and look on the bright side - at least paddling upstream was a bit of good exercise .
bits we didn't explore the dodgy looking rope swing that went over the dead sheep at the furthest weir

[hhzoombird]

lol :-)
gonna try more "paddling in the mind"

[mharrall]

Brook at Lacock, Wiltshire (actual name unknown)
Where is it? Its a small brook which flows into the avon through Lacock, length of paddleable section about 400m, above that low bridges make it too much of a pain.
Who went? me and my brother in snipes
Did we like it? yes, is was surprisingly OK.
Would you like it? Possibly
grading Its a I plus a weir. There is a small rapid immediately after hte get in, then it's pretty flat until you reach the confluence with the Avon where there is a 5 foot sloping weir.
Hazards: Someone had put a sort of sheep fence thing at the bottom of the rapid, last time I looked though this had gone. Also there is a bridge which might be a bit low if the water was up. And then there is the get in which is a ford, so traffic might be an issure!
Access: Never thought to ask
Trolly count: 0
tyre count: 0
Get in: Either get out whilst paddling up the avon and walk to the top of the run, or possible even more fun, park in the national trust car park and walk through tourist packed Lacock with boat on shoulder and then get in at the ford.
Get out: Continue down the Avon to Lacock bridge and then walk back up to the national trust car park, or continue down to Melksham.
Bits we didn't explore: Further upstream. When its rained there looks like enough water to potentialy paddle from Gastard, but that would just be plain silly.

[Mike A]

other strange places, anyone?

One that was in my mind for a while and will hopefully forever stay there...

The River Alt, though here, in it's 'upper reaches' it looks more like a brook.
Where is it? Liverpool, from Stockbridge Village to Croxteth Park, 1 mile at most
Who went? No-one, this was a trip in the mind only
Did I like it? yes, it was safer not being a real trip, and far less smelly too.
Would you like it? I doubt it
grading Its a I and generally too shallow to float a rubber duck but I once saw it become the mighty Alt, rising 5 or 6 feet to the top of it's bank after some particular heavy rain. Water was coming out of the top of nearby manhole covers. Ideal situation to catch Weil's Disease - talking of which...
Main Hazard: water quality. NBC suit required. Once inspired a storyline on Brookside, where a young Katy adopted a project to clean up the local river and (IIRC) came down with a dose of something nasty. I think it also carried or carries the accolade of most polluted river in Britain. Obviously we're talking concentration here rather than volume. I suspect it's been used for illegal small scale dumping, based on one incident I observed but didn't recognise as such until it had time to sink in. Low bridges will be another hazard if and when it's worth paddling; and no you definately don't want to capsize.
Access: You don't see fishermen, I guess 'cos there aren't any fish. You are more likely to come under the remit of the Mental Health Act than the laws of trespass on this river.
Trolley count: 1 that I know of has been there for years. Katy must have missed that one.
tyre count: Not sure - can't believe there aren't any though.
Get in: The Bridge by Brookside, L12 would be one option.
Get out: Somewhere in Croxteth Park. Round the back of Croxteth Hall or just before the river goes under the road on exiting the park.
bits I didn't explore I've only seen what you can see from local roads and footpaths.

The river Alt, what a fantastic river that flows right behind my house and drains the annual flood at the bottom of my road!

Definately not to be paddle nowadays, but my Dad used to catch tidlers there when he was a kid (about 55 years ago), and when up in Carlisle at the NW Water site I met a scientist who used to be responsible for cleaning it up. Small world!

Looks mean in flood, but still wouldn't want to padle it, even in my mind.

[Tom Saffell]

bin brook.

robinson college gardens to the Cam.
in high flood of autumn 2000 - pretty fast water.
grade I.
3 portages (bridges / pipes)
not wide enough to turn a boat in (2.3m)
1 vertical pinnning incident.
lots of limbo-ing
actually very scary indeed (did solo)
no trolleys
many pipes, some to go over, some to go under.

total time taken: 3 hours (compared to a 20 minute walk along paths, but not by river side)- lots of inspection required.

massive fun.
lots of respect from the porters...
I believe it was a first descent ?

tom saffell

[Mathew]

Birchwood Brook, Warrington.

Where is it? its a long yet thin brook, seen to emerge from a smelly pipe on the outskirts of Birchwood Forest Park, it can be seen running right across Warrington.

Who went? I haven't paddle it yet but this post is my inspiration to do so.

Did we like it? See above.

Would you like it? Doubtfully, its probably not wide enough to paddle freely, covered in trees, filled with trolleys and makes the Irwell smell like perfume.

Grading Its a I, its flat.

Main Hazard: No known weirs but use your brains if you see one. Tunnels - I'm aware of one that has a grate at the end and you won't get through it without a metal saw, trees, smell poisoning, scallys, swamp monsters (j/k).

Access: I can't imagine anyone caring, especially not fishermen.

General Description: I've only seen the brook twice in high water while jogging past, it goes from about .6m wide to 4m and I assume its deep then. Take a saw or some hardware to cut offending trees down, you'll need the help.
Anyway... it starts just off Birchwood Forest park, soon passes Birchwood train station right the way to Woolston and probably finishes at the Mersey.

Trolly count: Unknown but I'm guessing around 30

tyre count: Spare tyres in birchwood? Nah, they'd get nicked.

Get in: Either just outside Birchwood Forest Park or a bit further down brook where its wider and less dense - I'm talking about trees.

Get out: I suggest Birchwood train station, a good land mark is birchwood shopping mall, you'll see a bit green tower.

[MarkB]

Birchwood Brook, Warrington.
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.
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it starts just off Birchwood Forest park, soon passes Birchwood train station right the way to Woolston and probably finishes at the Mersey.
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Get out: I suggest Birchwood train station, a good land mark is birchwood shopping mall, you'll see a bit green tower.

I know the one you mean - as sometimes I used to walk from Birchwood Station to the other side of the M6 to work.