River Exe - Bolham Weir to Bickleigh

[Mark R]

Read full River Guide

[Mark R]

Updated today.

[Vulch]

8 on gauge at Thorverton (http://eathorvertonwebcam.org.uk/index2.html) equates to a good run with some nice little green play waves at various points - especially at Waldrons weir. At this level Bolham weir has a firm stopper - passable with firm and assertive paddling if you are confident. However, for the large beginners groups which frequent this section, perhaps a portage river right and a ferry glide across the weir to the lovely chute down river left would be significantly safer.

Simon

[nate64]

Does anyone know any contact details for the river advisor?? (adam box)

Hopefully going down the river on the 24th Jan (2010) so if anyone knows anything please can you let me know asap??

cheers!!

Nate

[Mont]

Has anyone done the Exe since Christmas, starting from the lay-by up river of Bolham? I understand that a group of 'travellers' have moved into the lay-by area, and have set up a semi-permanent camp. Is it still safe to leave vehicles there? Or have the new residents moved along now .... any info greatly received.

Ta,
Monty

[JohnK]

Not since Christmas but the travellers were there last year. If you're concerned about leaving a vehicle there there's a layby further up the road on the opposite side. We've left vehicles there before. Probably far enough away to be no longer of interest.

[Dicko]

Dude's

The Romany's are fine, just be outgoing and polite, and most of all friendly and smile, its amazing that these guys are real people to and respond to that!!!

If ya car gets done over it'll be one of the kids from tiverton, these travellers are added protection as far as I'm concerned!

They are really nice people, its just people who treat them with utter contempt that they dislike.... Who can blame them!!!


Keep it real dudez and be the out going friendly paddlers not the up their own arses ones that we all know and hate!!!

Dicko

[Mont]

Dude's

The Romany's are fine, just be outgoing and polite, and most of all friendly and smile, its amazing that these guys are real people to and respond to that!!! If ya car gets done over it'll be one of the kids from tiverton, these travellers are added protection as far as I'm concerned! They are really nice people, its just people who treat them with utter contempt that they dislike.... Who can blame them!!! Keep it real dudez and be the out going friendly paddlers not the up their own arses ones that we all know and hate!!!

Dicko

Thanks for the advice, indeed the Romany's were still there, and going to be for quite some time. It looks like they have themselves a very nice off-road camp. They were all very friendly, and as Dicko says, they were no hassle at all, and in fact, I think the place is a lot better for having them around - there was no rubbish or fly tipping as I've seen in previous visits.

Monty

[Jeeves]

Is the access agreement for the exe still 1 October til 14 February? Also is there a permit system in place?

[Horace1024]

Hia,
Probably not so popular on here!
Does anyone know if there would be any access issues paddling from Bickleigh down to Exeter in a raft? During the summer months, early July.
Does anyone know if there is a summer access agreement on the Exe?
Cheers

[markdamen]

Regards access rights, we just paddle where and when we want AS LONG AS CONDITIONS ALLOW (i.e. don't damage anything by paddling at low water levels. The section of river is extremely low at the moment, and I would advise strongly against paddling in a kayak or a raft. Not only will you be scraping most of the way, you'll be upsetting people.

We use this gauge on the exe, http://eathorvertonwebcam.org.uk/index2.html

At 6, the level is low and the lowest that we would paddle it if nothing else is higher. You really need it to be at 8 or above. So, 3 where it is today is definately too low for paddling. it wouldnt be much fun anyways!

[Jody D]

After getting to the lay-by 1/2 mile up from Bolham (the lay-by with the food wagon in) we were informed but the lady that runs the food wagon that the farmer didn't want anyone be it dog walkers or paddlers to access the river through his field any more. We kindly obliged and got back in the wagon and drove down to the other lay-by 300 meters above Bolham weir. When we got down to the river edge we bumped into the farmer who own's the land. He explained that the reason for banning kayakers and dog walkers from his land is due to a dog scaring 2 of his sheep into the river a couple of days before and the fire brigade having to rescue them. Also a couple of weeks ago a group of kayakers left the gate wide open which let all his sheep out onto the main road.

I promised him that I would post up his concerns and think it's understandable that he's some what annoyed. He added that he's all for paddlers using the river and he's happy for people to access the river via the lay-by directly above Bolham weir but in return for access he ask's people to shut gates and be respectful of his live stock.

I will pass this onto Adam Box

Happy paddling,

Jody

[forestknights]

Thanks for posting Jody.

We need to work with landowners if we are to get the access we desire.

[colonelorbit]

Jody

Another reminder that we all need to follow that Countryside Code and good manners we all know - it's amazing how easy it is to loose the good faith of a landowner over a permitted access to the river. It's also amazing how quickly bad news can travels. Well done Jody for listening and regaining his faith is human nature and shame on those who were careless or negligent in loosing it.

Col

[JonFinch]

Just as you leave the limits of Tiverton you enter the first section of river with trees either side. One tree has fallen across the river blocking it completly, There are a couple of limbo routes at a 5 on the Thorverton Gauge but not very good. It doesnt look like its moving any where fast.

[mharrall]

Paddled the Exe today from Bolham to Bickleigh, gauge at Thorverton was at 7. This was a good level for novice whitewater kayak paddlers and open canoes. There is still a huge tree blocking the river about 1 mile below Tiverton. It is impassable at this level. It's easy to spot from a distance though and stopping and portaging is also straight forward.

During the trip we saw just 2 fishermen, neither spoke or looked bothered at our passing through. You would think that on such a nice sunny Saturday that there would have been many more of them. Clearly the river is fair game to paddlers all year round providing the level is high enough.

[kevin Jones]

We paddled this stretch today. There is a tree down across the river between Tiverton and Bickleigh. With the low water level we had, we could just get under it! But at normal levels it would be a considerable hazard. It is on a straight stretch, so it should be easy to see it coming. Watch out!!!

[conoroneill]

Has anyone bothered paddling the section above Bolham? From the road, it looks grade 1.
Is there anywhere convenient to access the river between the Black Cat and Bolham? I've just looked via Google Earth, and nothing looks very likely with parking space.

[MikeVeal]

Has anyone bothered paddling the section above Bolham? From the road, it looks grade 1.
Is there anywhere convenient to access the river between the Black Cat and Bolham? I've just looked via Google Earth, and nothing looks very likely with parking space.

Do you mean this bit?
https://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/riv ... olham-weir

[conoroneill]

Do you mean this bit?

Doh! Many thanks.
I was hoping that there might be some info about other access points, but it looks like there aren't really any other options.

[mharrall]

You can get in at The Anchor Inn at Exebridge and get out at the Bolham access point, it's a fairly long paddle the first half is grade 1 - 2, but the second half is pretty flat. As I recall there are a couple of weirs on it too but they're not a problem.

[Duz79]

Paddled this stretch yesterday for the first time in a few years.

The trees now overhang Salmon steps Weir to a potentially hazardous extent in higher water, especially for novice groups. The main face of the weir goes in higher water of course.