Yesterday, my brother and I decided to explore the upper reaches of the Higher Avon in Warwickshire, a section not frequently paddled or indeed navigated by any sort of craft. We were unsure how far we would get upstream but hoped that we might reach Stoneleigh Abbey, adjacent to the former Royal Showground. It appears that Charles 1st in 1636 appointed Commissioners to facilitate enhancements to practical navigation on the Avon “….unto or near our City of Coventry ......". We were not going quite that far upstream but felt comfortable that this is clearly a Public Right of Navigation. The planned route is shown here, starting off on the river Leam.
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It was a beautiful sunny day when we met at the Pay and Display Car Park near to Adelaide Road Bridge (£4 all day, free on Sundays) in Leamington.
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There is a good launch point onto the river Leam just below the bridge….
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….and we headed downstream past the Royal Leamington Spa Canoe Club (we had both been very active members over 50 years ago!).
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The first portage is over the weir steps below the rail and road bridges at Princes Drive…….
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….and then on down a mile or so to the junction with the Avon. Turning right, upstream on the Avon, it is about another 0.5 mile until you reach a pair of weirs (the right one dry yesterday) above Rock Mill.
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This can be portaged on the right…….
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…..because they don’t seem to want you to go up the left side any more!
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To reach a lovely stretch of glassy water.
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After a while you reach an apparently abandoned haunted house of horrors. This is Guy’s Cliffe House and doesn’t seem to have changed in the last 50 years. However, having looked this up I now discover that it can be booked for your wedding reception (!) or for paranormal investigations……..
http://www.guyscliffehouse.co.uk/
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Moving quickly on we arrived at Saxon Mill which is a posh gastropub, suitable for less ghostly or ghastly weddings.
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Again portaging on the right, we continued upstream, enjoying the beautiful river, great reflections in the still water…..
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…..and abundant wildlife. I have never seen so many kingfishers (about 10 seen each way, occasionally 3 at a time), dragonflies and damselflies.
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In a field on the right bank we saw a series of posts with chains hanging around them, and the label ‘DisCatcher’. What on earth could these be for we wondered? Some sort of horse-riding event?
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The further we went, the more difficult it became. Narrow and shallow stretches between reeds had fast currents, so padding at about 4mph against a current of 3mph meant pretty slow progress!
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Fortunately there were quiet stretches between to allow recovery. Occasional riverside houses….
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…. road bridges…..
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…. and rail bridges….
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….until we reached Ashow. I have not just sneezed, that is the name of the village, and it is a lovely little place.
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We continued on, fighting our way through a few modest obstructions, until we came to this one which seemed pretty impenetrable, with no easy portage options. Had Trevor (Rockhopper) been with us (he had hoped to make it), he would no doubt have pulled out his trusty Bahco Laplander Saw (if he hadn’t lost it on the way) and we would have been quickly through. But he wasn’t, so we turned back, probably about a mile short of Stoneleigh Abbey.
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The return was much quicker. It had taken us about 4 hours of paddling to get 7 miles, and it only took about 2.5 hours to get back.
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On our return trip we found a group of people apparently making use of the ‘DisCatchers’. It seems that it is a game called Disc Golf, like Frisby with targets. It seems quite cheap to play: http://www.quarrypark.co.uk/ We offered to return any discs that these chaps flew into the river, only to be told that ‘There are probably about 200 in that bit of the river’. On the day that a 5p charge was introduced for plastic bags, I wondered how the plastic pollution in this section of the Avon was going to affect the wildlife in years to come – should they be charged too?!
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Back down past the Saxon Mill……
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…..the haunted house…….
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……and back up the Leam to the launch point.
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This was a great day out, all the better for the sense of exploration of a section of river rarely used. I would recommend it.
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It was a beautiful sunny day when we met at the Pay and Display Car Park near to Adelaide Road Bridge (£4 all day, free on Sundays) in Leamington.
[/URL][/IMG]
There is a good launch point onto the river Leam just below the bridge….
[/URL][/IMG]
[/URL][/IMG]
….and we headed downstream past the Royal Leamington Spa Canoe Club (we had both been very active members over 50 years ago!).
[/URL][/IMG]
The first portage is over the weir steps below the rail and road bridges at Princes Drive…….
[/URL][/IMG]
….and then on down a mile or so to the junction with the Avon. Turning right, upstream on the Avon, it is about another 0.5 mile until you reach a pair of weirs (the right one dry yesterday) above Rock Mill.
[/URL][/IMG]
This can be portaged on the right…….
[/URL][/IMG]
…..because they don’t seem to want you to go up the left side any more!
[/URL][/IMG]
To reach a lovely stretch of glassy water.
[/URL][/IMG]
[/URL][/IMG]
After a while you reach an apparently abandoned haunted house of horrors. This is Guy’s Cliffe House and doesn’t seem to have changed in the last 50 years. However, having looked this up I now discover that it can be booked for your wedding reception (!) or for paranormal investigations……..
http://www.guyscliffehouse.co.uk/
[/URL][/IMG]
Moving quickly on we arrived at Saxon Mill which is a posh gastropub, suitable for less ghostly or ghastly weddings.
[/URL][/IMG]
[/URL][/IMG]
[/URL][/IMG]
Again portaging on the right, we continued upstream, enjoying the beautiful river, great reflections in the still water…..
[/URL][/IMG]
…..and abundant wildlife. I have never seen so many kingfishers (about 10 seen each way, occasionally 3 at a time), dragonflies and damselflies.
[/URL][/IMG]
In a field on the right bank we saw a series of posts with chains hanging around them, and the label ‘DisCatcher’. What on earth could these be for we wondered? Some sort of horse-riding event?
[/URL][/IMG]
The further we went, the more difficult it became. Narrow and shallow stretches between reeds had fast currents, so padding at about 4mph against a current of 3mph meant pretty slow progress!
[/URL][/IMG]
Fortunately there were quiet stretches between to allow recovery. Occasional riverside houses….
[/URL][/IMG]
…. road bridges…..
[/URL][/IMG]
…. and rail bridges….
[/URL][/IMG]
….until we reached Ashow. I have not just sneezed, that is the name of the village, and it is a lovely little place.
[/URL][/IMG]
We continued on, fighting our way through a few modest obstructions, until we came to this one which seemed pretty impenetrable, with no easy portage options. Had Trevor (Rockhopper) been with us (he had hoped to make it), he would no doubt have pulled out his trusty Bahco Laplander Saw (if he hadn’t lost it on the way) and we would have been quickly through. But he wasn’t, so we turned back, probably about a mile short of Stoneleigh Abbey.
[/URL][/IMG]
The return was much quicker. It had taken us about 4 hours of paddling to get 7 miles, and it only took about 2.5 hours to get back.
[/URL][/IMG]
On our return trip we found a group of people apparently making use of the ‘DisCatchers’. It seems that it is a game called Disc Golf, like Frisby with targets. It seems quite cheap to play: http://www.quarrypark.co.uk/ We offered to return any discs that these chaps flew into the river, only to be told that ‘There are probably about 200 in that bit of the river’. On the day that a 5p charge was introduced for plastic bags, I wondered how the plastic pollution in this section of the Avon was going to affect the wildlife in years to come – should they be charged too?!
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Back down past the Saxon Mill……
[/URL][/IMG]
…..the haunted house…….
[/URL][/IMG]
……and back up the Leam to the launch point.
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This was a great day out, all the better for the sense of exploration of a section of river rarely used. I would recommend it.