Access on the East Lyn  -  1st October – 28th February  2007 From Peter Thorn

Please note Peter has taken over as the River Adviser for the East Lyn. A revised agreement has just been confirmed, the headlines of which are:

• no limit on group numbers
• no permits required, just an email to me for monitoring purposes
• keep to the right at the large house
• October now included, so paddling OK from 1 Oct to end Feb
• web cam being fitted...funding in place
• main run Watersmeet to Lynmouth, but agreement for low water runs in the gorge on shorter stretch...see agreement for details
• small groups only...no big club or university adventures!

 

By the way, there are two big oak trees across the gorge, but both easily bypassed

 

There is a meeting with riparian owners on 13 December about access from Brendon.  There is not a good history with this stretch, so don't expect much

 

Contact Peter on peterthorn7@aol.com

There are over 65,00kms of water that as a member of the public you do not have access to in England and Wales.  That means you only have access to 2% of the available waterways.

Many inland waterways can be paddled if you purchase a licence from the appropriate authority.

BCU members can paddle some of these waters as a benefit of membership when the identification sticker is clearly displayed on your canoe/kayak.

Environment Agency Licensed Waters

• River Thames (Cricklade Bridge to Teddington)
• Bedford Ouse below Kempston, Bedford
• Ancholme
• Nene below Northampton
• Welland and Glen
• Little Ouse, Wissey, Lark and Cam (to below Bottisham Lock)
• Suffolk Stour below Brundon, Sudbury
• Medway below Tonbridge

British Waterways Licensed Waters

• River Trent: Below Derwentmouth
• River Severn: Stourport to Gloucester
• British Waterways canals and rivers listed on the BCU Leaflet “Enjoy Britain’s Waterways by Canoe” - for more information see the BCU website

Please note that this does not include specified commercial waterways and most tunnels which are prohibited to canoeists.

Waterways Licensed by Others

• Stratford Avon from Alveston to Tewkesbury
• Basingstoke Canal
• Bridgewater Canal (North west Region)
• Rochdale Canal
• Norfolk Broads
• Wey & Godalming Navigations
• River Cam (Byrons Pool to Bottisham Lock) Licence required from the Cam Conservators

Access team

The BCU has a team of voluntary access officers, covering the majority of canoeable waters in Britain. The legal rights of access to water are not always favourable to canoeists. It is very important to check the legal position before setting out on a canoeing trip. All Regional Access Officers (RAO's) and Local River Advisers (LRA's) are volunteers, so please do not make excessive demands; write well in advance wherever possible and always enclose an SAE. If you do phone, make sure the hour is not unsociable and remember the majority are in full time work and will not be available throughout the day.

List of RAOS and LRAs are available at www.bcu.org.uk

The BCU are currently undertaking a considerable amount of work updating and improving its Rivers Information Service and as this work progresses it will be published on this and the BCU website.