GUIDE TO THE RIVER BOLLIN

(Manchester Airport to Ashley Road)

NAME OF RIVER: Bollin.

WHERE IS IT?: This section of the Bollin runs from Manchester Airport Holiday Inn, to Ashley Road, south west of Hale.

PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: Put in: From public footpath along right bank opposite Holiday Inn down steep, 5m bank. Parking in adjacent minor road bridging river. Take-outs: Road crossing at SJ770856; Footbridge by Hale golf club with 500m portage to road. Above weir at Little Bollington -(untried). No. 88 bus from Altrincham offers return transport to car.

APPROX LENGTH: 8.3km.
Further 6.2km to Little Bollington (not paddled)

TIME NEEDED: 3 1/2 hours to Ashley Road

ACCESS HASSLES: None. Single angler encountered who made no comments.

WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: 0.8m on EA Guage close to lowest paddling level. Higher levels will make more fallen trees impassable.

GRADING: Grade 1 at level paddled with single grade 1/2 rapid after railway crossing just before get out.

MAJOR HAZARDS/FALLS: Large weir at Little Bollington. Several fallen trees, most of which can be worked past from in the boat. Major tree fall obstruction 2km downstream from Ashley Road take-out would require portage. Possible further obstructions downstream.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Despite passing under the M56 and Manchester Airport's runway, it is a pastoral paddle, with the river mostly contained in a small gorge with limited pedestrian access to the banks. Numerous minor rapids makes for easy grade 1 paddling although restricted width on tight bends can cause problems in a longer boat. Not suitable for large groups.

OTHER NOTES:

CONTRIBUTED BY: Andy.

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Community Forum Comments on this Article

Re: River Bollin - Manchester Airport to Ashley Road -- Jan13

2015 May 27 08:38:27 AM

Which gauge do you look at for the Bollin? There only seem to be ones on the Mersey a fair bit upstream

[quote="Jan13"] Which gauge do you look at for the Bollin? There only seem to be ones on the Mersey a fair bit upstream [/quote]

Re: River Bollin - Manchester Airport to Ashley Road -- liquid

2013 Aug 01 09:11:48 PM

Going to paddle it again tomorrow nice spot. last time i went water level was down but still runnable

[quote="liquid"] Going to paddle it again tomorrow nice spot. last time i went water level was down but still runnable [/quote]

Re: River Bollin - Manchester Airport to Ashley Road -- Kevin Beattie

2012 Sep 20 08:06:10 PM

Paddled it today at 0.68 on the gauge and it was still paddleable. We went on a tree clearing mission and spent 1.5 hours clearing a lot of stuff from the section before the runway tunnel. river opens out after that an is usually clear. However there are a few log jams created by large mature trees. We were able to squeeze under or drag over. We'll go again with chain saws and GPS tag the log jams for the EA to clear. Lovely river and would encourage paddlers to take bow saws and help clear this rive up. We used a get out beside the sewage works off Bow Lane in Hale as it is easier to get off the river and there is parking. However there is a massive log jam just above it.

[quote="Kevin Beattie"] Paddled it today at 0.68 on the gauge and it was still paddleable. We went on a tree clearing mission and spent 1.5 hours clearing a lot of stuff from the section before the runway tunnel. river opens out after that an is usually clear. However there are a few log jams created by large mature trees. We were able to squeeze under or drag over. We'll go again with chain saws and GPS tag the log jams for the EA to clear. Lovely river and would encourage paddlers to take bow saws and help clear this rive up. We used a get out beside the sewage works off Bow Lane in Hale as it is easier to get off the river and there is parking. However there is a massive log jam just above it. [/quote]

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