River Wear - Bishop Auckland to Sunderland Bridge

  • Print
Details
Last Updated on Wednesday, 19 January 2011 10:02
Written by John Little.

GUIDE TO THE RIVER WEAR

(Bishop Auckland to Sunderland Bridge)

NAME OF RIVER: River Wear. Bishop Auckland to Sunderland Bridge (A167 just South of Durham).

WHERE IS IT?: Bishop Auckland is in the middle of County Durham off the A688.

PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: Put in just down stream of the old river bridge in Bishop Auckland, river right (NZ207303). Plenty of parking for unloading etc, but might be more sensitive to leave most vehicles at the get out.

Get out Sunderland Bridge (on the A167 just south of Durham, NZ266377) just upstream of the old bridge, river right.

There is also a carpark and access at Jubilee bridge in Willington (NZ208343) and access to the road at Page Bank (NZ234355 no idea about parking at Page Bank) after 4 and 5 miles respectively.

APPROX LENGTH: 9 miles.

TIME NEEDED: Took us 3 hours gentle paddling.

ACCESS HASSLES: Section is not often paddled. Anglers were friendly!

WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: We paddled in quite low conditions without too much trouble.The number for Rivercall North East is 09066197722, which gives three gauge readings for the Wear.

GRADING: Mixture of grade 1 and grade 2.

MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: There are a number of trees in the river - these can easy be seen in advance and in most cases a safe line found.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A pleasant touring section with no portages or particularly hard sections. Section has potential for novice trips and summer paddling.

OTHER NOTES: There are other sections above Witton-le-Wear which get harder the higher up you start. The section below is also popular. Anyone done Witton-le-Wear to Bishop Auckland for completeness?

CONTRIBUTED BY: John Little.

 

 

Community Forum Comments on this Article
Refresh Posts
Re: RIVER WEAR (Bishop Auckland to Sunderland Bridge) -- ansogura
Monday, 13 February 2012 09:58
Paddled the stretch from Barnard Castle to Page Bank. Found it to be exactly as the guide described. A lot of bankside litter. Plenty of coffee/lunch spots. A nice little car park at Page Bank immediately on the left as you drive over the bridge from Spennymoor. We got out just below the obvious outfall. Bank is quite steep with lots of brambles, but short so not too difficult. Only one angler encountered, a young lad who was friendly enough. Met another guy who was planting willow saplings to provide shade for his fishing. As an angler he had a very refreshing attitude "I can't see what the problem is with canoes, infact I've often thought about getting one myself" Would that they were all as enlightened as that. We tried to encourage him to get in contact with Bishop Auckland Canoe Club. Further downstream we had a very pleasant chat with a fellow paddler (though not in his canoe) who was out collecting firewood for his stove. It transpired that he was a member of the afforementioned club.
Altogether a very pleasant day out.