GUIDE TO WHITSUNDALE BECK
NAME OF RIVER: Whitsundale Beck
WHERE IS IT?: Its a tributary of the Swale, Swaledale, Yorkshire. You can see it joining from river left around 200m below the normal Hoggarth's Bridge start.
PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: To get to the put-in head upstream and uphill on the main road (B6270 westwards) from Hoggarths bridge. Pass a phonebox on the left, then turn right when you reach the next building on the left. Carry on down this small road until it ends at a ford and farmyard at NY 863 033. You could get out where it joins the Swale (NY 873 014), but unless the SWale is massive, you'll only really want to run this as an alternative start for that section, so its better to carry on down.
APPROX LENGTH: about 2km
TIME NEEDED: Time to paddle the beck alone is around half an hour.
ACCESS HASSLES: This is really in the middle of nowhere, so you should have no problems. The ford road is regularly used though by some friendly farmers, so park out of the way.
WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: Needs to be high. Just look at the put in - can you float easily?
GRADING: 3+, but fairly continuous with a few small drops.
MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: There's one set of 3 small falls close to the start (about 200m after the ford at the get in described). They go fine, but are probably worth a quick look first.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: A nice little beck that goes downhill fairly quick for the grade, but is never too hard. Goes through a few small gorges with blind corners and small drops. Really would take ages to paddle if you're not easily floating at the get-in.
OTHER NOTES: A good fun warm-up for the Swale when there's a lot of water around.
CONTRIBUTED BY: Kev Williamson, Oxford Uni Canoe and Kayak Club.
