GUIDE TO BORROW BECK
NAME OF RIVER: Borrow Beck.
WHERE IS IT?: It's a tributary of the Lune.
PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: Put in at a road bridge on the A6 north of Kendal GR553039. The shuttle takes quite a while due to small windy roads which do not follow the path of the beck at all. This also means once you have started paddling this, you need to finish it!
Take out underneath the M6, just off the A685 about 2 miles south of Tebay.
APPROX LENGTH: About 3 or 4 miles I would guess.
TIME NEEDED: At the spate levels needed only about 45 mins to run it, although the shuttle will take a while so allow for this.
ACCESS HASSLES: Unknown.
WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: This is definately a spate run! There is a small weir-like stopper below the bridge of the get in and when the beck is at the necessary level the stopper looks very mean! This beck is VERY rain dependant, you need to run when it has been p-ing it down for a few hours...and still is as you get on.
GRADING: Continuous 2/ 3 becoming 3/ 4 later in the trip. One grade 5(?) drop. A high speed trip, a good ability to get those micro-eddies is definitely required!
MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: One major fall, just after the second bridge. Easily portaged.
Sheep fences. Only one totally blocks the river, but is on a tight corner just after the first km. Very dangerous, be warned!
After the get out there is a weir which is very nasty in big water.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: The first section is a good warm up: big bouncy (and fast) grade 2/ 3. The first footbridge marks the end of the easier stuff and the fun really starts! Continuous grade three (and the fences mentioned above) take you to the second footbridge. From here the tempo increases another notch and the grade goes up to 3+/ 4. After overhanging trees make line-seeking more entertaining and then there is a leftward bend. Here you must inspect on river right. Portage will most likely be the option for most as it is a technical grade 5 drop with a severe undercut. This is immediately followed by a technical grade 3+/4. It then eases to grade 3 up to and after the get out, so don't get carried away! You will most definitely be left buzzin'!
Grippy weir just above the takeout, but you could take out just upstream.
OTHER NOTES: A great run! With two cars for a shuttle you could quite easily do this as well as another river/ beck in one day. The whole river would be a great intermediate trip if run with someone who knows where the fences / fall is.
There is a paddleable tributary at the get-in...Crookdale Beck.
CONTRIBUTED BY: Lowri Davies, York Canoe Club. www.yorkcanoeclub.freeserve.co.uk and Simon Wiles.
