The week started early, the north coast of the City of London. There is a short section of the Regents Canal, the southern bank of which is the northern boundary of the City of London. I was on the water, just after 06.00, mainly to ensure that I could park near the canal. A real treat prior to launching was watching 2 urban Peregrines striking terror into the heart of the resident pigeons.
It was a rather enjoyable early morning paddle, with friendly communication with a number of the runners and walkers. I was particularly pleased when one young man complemented me on my paddling technique.
This was also my first 20 mile day, so I headed towards the Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation, my destination in Essex. It was a busy place and I must admit that I was slightly disappointed. A one day licence cost me £6. It was £5 to park and if you wanted to use the slipway it was £13 to launch and £13 to land. That is a seriously high charge. It was a reasonably high climb down to the water. Looking at the number of people who were paddling on the canal on Sunday it would seem reasonable that some facilities could be provided, such as a floating pontoon. That said everyone I saw on the water was having a great time and all very friendly.
I survived my very early start and my first 20+ nautical mile day of the trip. An early finish and a relaxing evening, whilst planning for Monday’s 3 County Top day.
The county tops of Essex and Cambridgeshire are close enough to each other to be completed in a very pleasant morning walk. Well signposted public footpaths and bridleways through beautiful countryside. I even managed to dodge the majority of the heavy showers as they passed through the area.
From there it was onto the county top of Suffolk, which is absolutely not worth visiting unless you are ticking off the county tops. 3 for the day and another early finish.
Tuesday was another 20+ mile paddle plus a county top, it turned into 13+ hours with the driving. The first paddle was on the Orwell. I launched from the lovely village of Pin Mill on the banks of the Orwell, headed downstream against the current, but with the wind on my back, almost as far as Felixstowe before turning around and paddling back upstream with the tide, pushing me along at a fair old rate. It felt good to be out on some salt water, my more natural environment. I paddled underneath the Orwell Bridge, quite an impressive structure, the main arch towering 43 metres above the water, before returning back to Pin Mill. That was my Suffolk paddling completed.
From there, it was off to Norfolk to go and paddle on the Broads. I had never been to Norfolk before, so a brand new part of the world for me. I am actually embarrassed to admit this was my first visit to such a significant county. From the car park it was quite a long walk to Salhouse Broad, I think this walk alone justified buying the trolley, just before I left Jersey. It was a good introduction to Norfolk’s paddling potential and a pretty easy 10 miles.
The highest point in Norfolk is Beacon Hill, which is on the terminal moraine of the North Sea ice sheet. To achieve the summit marked by a flagpole, I undertook a 1.7 mile walk, including some lovely wooded sections, it was rather frustrating, therefore, to find that there was a pay and display car park, not 30 metres from the summit, which wasn't mentioned in any of the walking guides. The end of a long day and a drive to Peterborough, with the day ending on a positive note with a win for England’s football team.
After a long day yesterday, with lots of driving, it was nice to start with just a six minute drive to the put in for today's paddle on the River Nene in Peterborough. I hadn't realised I was going to have to portage the kayak across a working railway line, which added a bit of spice when trying to access the water. There was a nice canoe portage launch spot just downstream of the lock at Orton Mere, enabling easy access to the water. So I paddled towards Peterborough. There were plenty of swans, (am I becoming paranoid?). So I gave them a bit of a wide berth and managed to get my 10 miles in on the river. The paddling actually felt good today.
From there, it was off to Rutland the county, which Toby grew up in. First of all, it was to complete the county top, Cold Overton Park, a reasonable walk, I parked in Oakham, walked along the road before heading, across on a public bridleway. The trig point wasn't easy to find and I'm not sure it was on public land. From there I retired to a very nice hotel on the sides of Rutland Water.
Thursday began with a very relaxed start. I met some members of the Rutland Canoe Club on the banks of Rutland Water and even better Katie had flown up from Barcelona to paddle Toby's kayak, which he used for his moderate becoming good later challenge, on his home waters, Rutland is the county that both Katie and Toby grew up in.
For me, one of the highlights was the number of different species of birds, plus it was a very sociable day, which I really appreciated. The members of Rutland Canoe Club couldn’t have been more accommodating
Friday was a two county paddling day, first up was Leicestershire and I drove to Foxton Locks, which is clearly a major tourist draw in the area. I paddled the Harborough line, of the Grand Union Canal, all the way into the middle of Market Harborough. I was just a pleasant canal, and in common with, all the other canals, everybody was friendly. It was possibly the busiest bit of water I have experienced with plenty of other boats around. With the 10 miles completed, I treated myself to an ice cream, bought a new tea towel, at the local shop and it was off to Gayton Junction, which is on the main part of the Grand Union Canal, to paddle in Northamptonshire.
It was an easy launch, the banks were really low, and they were absolutely no portages, so I paddled north, for five miles, and then south for five miles. Interestingly I was accommpanied most of the time by the sound of trains, topography often results in canals and train lines following the same physical features of the land. It was a quick five minute drive to the hotel.
The last day of the 3rd week was 2 county tops in the morning and the Trent-Mersey Canal in the afternoon. Bardon Hill is the County Top of Leicestershire, but I was unaware of the scale of quarrying. One side of the hill has been an active quarry for over 400 years and still produces 15% of the UK quarrying output.
From there it was off to Willington, close to Derby it offers easy access to the Trent-Mersey Canal and has free car parking, an increasingly rare commodity. The sun came out and the paddling was straight forward. Interestingly I ended up chatting to 2 stand up paddle boarders, out of the possibly 100 plus I have seen in the last 3 weeks they were the only ones who ticked these 3 boxes, wearing buoyancy aids, waist leashes and standing up. Another short drive to the hotel and in a good position for my Nottinghamshire paddle tomorrow.
Twenty one days completed, or 30 %, of the Challenge.
Miles Paddled: This week 91.19 Running total 235.87
Miles Walked: This week 19.27 Running total 55.99
County Tops: This week 7 Running total 25
Miles Driven: This week 571 Running total 1657
Good to catch up with your weekly achievements in great detail. Makes you realise just how fortunate we are in Jersey to have free access to the sea in most locations.
Hi Kevin
I admire and envy you no end !
However about 20 years ago as a visitin̈g member of the Swindon rowing club I foun̈d the canal there as a floating tip.