GUIDE TO THE RIVER BEULT
(Headcorn to Hunton)
NAME OF RIVER: River Beult.
WHERE IS IT?: South of Maidstone. Map.
PUT-INS/ TAKEOUTS:Put in: At TQ823444, minor road in Headcorn off A274, roadside parking, Stilebridge on A229 south of Maidstone, or (probably) minor road at Hunton TQ709494.
APPROX LENGTH: Total about 12 miles.
TIME NEEDED: Allow 4 hours for some awkward portages at weirs.
ACCESS HASSLES: Private, but rarely anyone around to worry, especially in the close coarse fishing season.
WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: Regulated by weirs and sluices. Some shallows below weirs.
GRADING: I placid.
MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: Weirs should be portaged.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Pleasant meandering river in flood plain with distant views of hills.
OTHER NOTES: Prone to flood in winter, rather weedy at end of summer. Hunton Mill, just below the last put-in point, is nearly half a mile of distinctly private garden, and should not be attempted. Pity, because you can come up the other way to below the mill from the confluence with the Medway at Yalding.
CONTRIBUTED BY: David Wilson.
