06-07-10, 05:17 PM
Saturday night was party night with a family member's birthday 
but with a paddle looming in the morning I wimped out early. 
Next day with what felt like a full gale blowing I headed off to Bishop Auckland to have a play on the River Wear. I put in near the Rugby Club and headed upstream. For the most part I was in water deep enough to paddle but interupted by frequent shallows with lots of well rounded rocks where I waded, pulling my canoe behind me. The 1st of these had a decent shute off to one side which I decided I'd run on the trip back. 
Once past this it bacame apparent that I was lookin at the site of an old water mill with partially exposed stone walls buried in the river bank and the remains of a sluice way still visible though the dam was reduced to a shallow rapid.
Once past and paddling again the river cuts through a mudstone bank a 100' or so high, with the sedimentary layers clearly marked and much washed out creating a most un-England like effect. Frequent bumping of my paddle on the bottom drove me ashore where I cut a fallen bough to make a rudimentary pole.
My 1st efforts were wobbly to say the least but after a few miles I was edging the canoe whilst standing up and feeling quite proud of myself as I countered a pretty nasty head wind.
More washed out weirs were portaged or lined as I headed further upstream. Eventually I turned back having found a couple of rapids that whilst shallow were at least runable. After about 7 hours I was back at my start point, wet, tired but very very happy, My canoe on the other hand has aged about 10 years having picked up several million scratches, scrapes and dings. On top of that my camara went bang so I've no pictures
. All we need now is some rain as it'll be a magic trip with a bit more water. 
Regards All. Mike.
but with a paddle looming in the morning I wimped out early. Next day with what felt like a full gale blowing I headed off to Bishop Auckland to have a play on the River Wear. I put in near the Rugby Club and headed upstream. For the most part I was in water deep enough to paddle but interupted by frequent shallows with lots of well rounded rocks where I waded, pulling my canoe behind me. The 1st of these had a decent shute off to one side which I decided I'd run on the trip back. Once past this it bacame apparent that I was lookin at the site of an old water mill with partially exposed stone walls buried in the river bank and the remains of a sluice way still visible though the dam was reduced to a shallow rapid.Once past and paddling again the river cuts through a mudstone bank a 100' or so high, with the sedimentary layers clearly marked and much washed out creating a most un-England like effect. Frequent bumping of my paddle on the bottom drove me ashore where I cut a fallen bough to make a rudimentary pole.
My 1st efforts were wobbly to say the least but after a few miles I was edging the canoe whilst standing up and feeling quite proud of myself as I countered a pretty nasty head wind.
More washed out weirs were portaged or lined as I headed further upstream. Eventually I turned back having found a couple of rapids that whilst shallow were at least runable. After about 7 hours I was back at my start point, wet, tired but very very happy, My canoe on the other hand has aged about 10 years having picked up several million scratches, scrapes and dings. On top of that my camara went bang so I've no pictures
. All we need now is some rain as it'll be a magic trip with a bit more water. Regards All. Mike.