 | Allington Lock and Slipway | | Gateway to the rural River Medway |
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Hi there, have a look at the following link to judge how far Stoneham is in relation to the rest of the river:
http://www.visitrivermedway.co.uk/uploads/MVCPCanoe-A4download-drf01-3.pdf (just cut and paste this into your web address bar).
Yes it is relatively quiet. There is a railway line close by but this is used infrequently (Medway Valley line).
Yes possible for campfires there also.
Tonbridge to Stoneham will take you 4 hours at a slow steady pace.
Oak Weir Lock is a nicer camping location.
Phil
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I would like to canoe this trail, stopping overnight and completing the next day.
Is the Stoneham Lock campsite about half way?
can you let me know if it is a quiet & safe location, not adjacent to a motorway??
Is it possible to have a campfire at that location?
also, can anyone advise how long this would take each day with a slow steady pace in open canoes? |
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Ash, Take a look at www.medwaycanoetrail.co.uk and click on canoe shops and hire
Phil |
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Hi, i was wondering if you or any where in the maidstone area lend out kayaks/canoes as i am looking to doing a 10-20mile charity row. Many thanks |
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Following a recent trip up the Thames we phoned ahead to Allington lock on our return to advise that we had blown up our starboard engine and that we were running late and had steering difficulties. Tim the duty lock keeper assured us that he would wait for us and help us through the lock which he did with great expertise.Thank you once again to Tim all the the EA team for a great service we would be lost without you guys !!! |
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I wanted to give you some feedback on the website as we have recently visited the area for the first time with a large group of scouts.
The information given is excellent & the free mapguides were very useful. The work to the river itself was fantastic & the scouts loved being able to use the shoots!!
The only downside we experienced, which is the main reason for the email, is an overnight expedition that was run with 5 of our older scouts (13yrs old). Based on the info on your website we booked in at the Marlin campsite ( I must confess we didn’t look at the link to the other website because we thought everything we needed to know was on your site). The description states that there are no toilet facilities on the site in winter – so you can imagine our reaction when we arrived to find that the toilet facilities were buried buckets in the ground! When we booked we said that we were scouts and yet there was no mention that this may be inappropriate for children to stay at.
I just thought you may want to amend the wording as, had we known this, there is no way we would have taken children to stay there overnight |
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Hi David,
Many thanks for the feedback. When the Medway Canoe Trail Guide needs to be printed again we can look at adding in some of the ideas you mentioned, at present we have plenty in stock so this may not be for some time. Regarding the 'carry it out policy' you mentioned we will continue to monitor how busy the trail gets through the rest of the year, all the sites are checked regularly and there have been no reported problems so far.
Steve.
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For attn Steve Flower:
Steve,
It was good to chat to you as we enjoyed showers at Arlington after a really fun day and a half trip from Tonbridge Slipway to Maidstone on your Canoe Trail. We had seen the publicty about the trail in the BCU magazine. I undertook the trip over 21/22nd July with my wife and son. He was in an inflatable Kayak and we were in sit on tops. As I explainedd at the time we were incredibly impressed with this example of a low impact tourism and sport facility. The work in terms of canoe platforms, steps and canoe passes is beautifully constructed with a lot of thought. The Shower at the end very welcome. Any comments must be taken with our overall impression in mind. We later went on to Kayak down the Thames and that excellent trip would have been made so much more fun if locks had been passed with canoe passes and exit platforms constructed with canoes in mind. I do hope you will eventually have canoe passes at all locks.
We had requested the trail leaflet by E mail and it had arrived within 48 hours. Impressive service. As stated below by others it is a useful guide but there is a lot of nice writing about potenital wildlife to be spotted. Most keen Kayakers will be aware of this anyway. More hard facts would help. Things like parking regulations at Tonbridge. The side of the locks to look for passes and portages. Details of trains to return from Maidstone and busses covering the route. Shops and pubs, water taps and canoe hire.
We carried water and camped at the beautiful undeveloped Oak Wier Lock. Thank you. The concept of semi wild camping on the trail is fantastic. Having said this we have to accept that this trail will become more popular and humans produce waste. I am primarily a mountaineer and have seen and studied the effects of poor shit disposal at remote camp sites in the hills. We need to deal with this before it becomes a problem. Firstly encourage people to burn any paper used. There are several ways this problem could be tackled and one has to keep potential floods and the water table in mind. Composting toilets are a possiblilty as used by the Knoydart trust in Scoland at their campsite at Inverie. The Mountain Bothy Association also has done work on this problem and is trying out several alternatives. The CIC hut on Ben Nevis has had toilets installed in the last two years after totally polluting thet valley below the North Face of the mountain for many years. Possibly the best alternative is to adopt a "carry it out policy", This woudl involve making biodegradable shit tight bags available and having disposal points at some Locks. This is currently working in the delicate eco system of the Cairngorm Plateau and is know as the Cairngorm Phoo Project with a disposal point in the car Park below Cairngorm. I can provide further literature.
As the popularity increases so will the problems. The Wye as a Kayaking river is being troubled by Stag Parties loading hired canoes with booze and camping wild. You need to be ahead of this potential problem. Not sure how other than a Kayaking Warden with a big dog and a shotgun. They may become more of a problem than human shit! I wonder if hire companies should levy an "Environmental Deposit" only returned two weeks later if not reports of abuse are received and shit bags and litter is returned?
Please do not take any of these comments in a negative way. They reflect our enthusiasm for the work you have done and I hope will provide food for thought.
David Hillebrandt
Devon
dh@hillebrandt.org.uk
8.8.11 |
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Cheers Steve,
hope I didn't sound too negative, we actually can't wait to get back on the river and try those canoe passes again! |
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Adam, thanks for this very useful feedback. I am sorry to hear that the yalding campsite didn't work out for you. We hope to work with the owner there and at the very least provide improved signage at this location. As for the hauling, the canoe trail isn't perfect and there are locations such as Yalding where climbing over banks is sometimes necessary. There was another option which involves a longer paddle, but it may not have been the lesser of two evils.
The toilet and shower facility is now installed and will be fully open by Thursday this week. Apologies for the lack of info on this, but we have been awaiting confirmation of funding to install this facilitiy this year.
Feebdack on the leaflet acknowledged. It will be a while before any re-print is undertaken (& funding permitting) but we are listing the issues that people are highlighting to us.<br />
The canal boats on the downstream landing at Porters Lock are awaiting Eldridges Lock to re-open. This will happen this Saturday so they should be moving on then.
Once again, thank you for taking time to write some good descriptive feedback. This is the only way we can list the issues and look into future improvements.
Phil |
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Dear Phil,
Here's my feedback, I hope it doesn't sound too negative :-/
My friends and I decided on a river adventure (w/end 9th 10th July 11), we used the Canoe Trail leaflet as a guide and info from the website to choose Marlin Canoe Club campsite at Yalding.
I phoned Vince to arrange camping. On arrival at the Anchor pub we couldn't find the campsite, there was no signage or indication of where it was, there's no mobile coverage in or around Yalding so I had to try 2 pubs and a broken phone box to ring Vince and find out where it was, all I got was an answer phone. After speaking to several locals I eventually found the hidden bat cave like entrance to the Marlin site hidden between the bridge and a lorry depot - it took 45 mins and I had to shout to get Vinces attention as the gate was padlocked.
We had a 16ft Canadian canoe with us and were unable to bring the canoe around the very tight cornered path to the campsite, he suggested we paddle to the site, this we did but had to drag our canoe with camping gear up a high, muddy bank, across a switch back bridge at Teapot island and through the car park field, then paddle the short distance to the campsite, which also had a very steep bank to drag our canoe up.
I asked abt the facilities and Vince informed us there were none, except a bucket in the bushes as a toilet, apparently the EA had taken away the temp. toilets/showers a few months ago, water could be collected from the tap in the car park field on the opposite side of the river, abt a 15 minute walk.
The plan was to get to Yalding, set up camp then paddle away for the rest of the afternoon, what we thought would take 30mins took 2 hours of unnecessary seeking and hauling which could've been avoided if we were told what to expect.
I think info on this campsite needs to be updated on the website?
The trail leaflet was beautifully presented, but had more info on potential sightings of otters and cherry blossom than useful info we really needed to know, such as the exact location of the canoe passes, how to get there by road, shops on the route, and in particular how far do we have to walk and where, to gain entry from the canoe portage near the Anchor pub to the other side of Yalding bridge? We thought way marking might be useful between portage points as some are not always that obvious?
Once we had sorted ourselves out we thoroughly enjoyed using the river, there's something quite magical about gently paddling through the water as the sun goes down on a beautiful summers evening.
The following day we drove to Hartlake bridge (tricky to get to as the leaflet gives no directions) and used the fantastic canoe passes at East Lock & Porters Lock, we were a little dismayed to find Porters Lock portage to be occupied by 2 canal boats which used the platforms as mooring points which made it difficult to get out.
In summary we wont return to the Marlin site due to the facilities and access issues, but we will be returning to the canoe trail and hope to do the whole thing, there's something quite magical when gently paddling on the river as the sun goes down on a warm summers evening.
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Graeme, the river conditions notice on the home page of this website just informs users whether the river is in flood or not. That's as scientific as it gets I'm afraid.
Occasionally canoe passes may have to close. Tonbridge is currently closed due to water shortages and some issues with the lock gates at this location. We hope to rectify these soon. However, even if the canoe pass is closed it is still possible to portage around the lock (as it is for every lock on the River)using the purpose built portage platforms. If you want any specific information on the day, you could always phone Allington Lock on 01622 752864.
We are currently looking into the designs of the last three fish passes/ canoe passes these being at Yalding, Teston and East Farleigh. Due to the higher level of risk to users at these sites, it may not be possible to install safe canoe passes. Of course portaging using the recently installed portage platforms at these locations, will remain.
Phil |
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Hi,
What is the chance of accurate River Conditions?
I went to Tonbridge Park on Sunday to kayak down to Yalding only to find the canoe pass closed just outside Tonbridge.
If you are unable to, any idea where I can check on the day to save me driving for an hour and then letting my family go off to meet me in 2hours time at Yalding only to find I can't get there!
Also when will the last canoe pass be completed.
Is there plans to open them all the way to Allington?
Regards |
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Adam, assuming you are after the Medway canoe trail leaflet - you have two choices, you can either request a free splashproof version with a large map by sending your name and address to steven.flower@environment-agency.gov.uk or download it for free from here and print it off yourself: http://www.visitrivermedway.co.uk/uploads/MVCPCanoe-A4download-drf01-3.pdf (just cut and paste this into your web address bar.
Cheers
Phil |
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Lovely site, but wheres the map of the trail?? |
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Martin, thanks for your message. Hope to see you again next year. |
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This weekend was our 4th Year we as a Scout Group have used the River Medway for our annual Kayak trip to finish our scouts kayak training. We have found over the years from when we phone to book our trip we are given all the help needed, and with the work you have done on the Medway over the years like the canoe passes, this has made our trips so much more fun.
The information at landing stations about each canoe pass is useful to me as the trip leader.
I have had good feed back from the scouts about how much fun and enjoyment they have on our Medway trips because its not just a paddle down a flat river, and how they want to be on next years trip.
look forward to using the Medway next year with the changes we see you are doing this year.
Martin Richardson |
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John, thanks for your feedback. At Tonbridge you could have used the landing stages at the bottom of the canoe and fish pass and pulled your canoe up it. Going over the lock is a little awkward! I shall inform the ops team to see whether some small mooring eyes could be installed on some of the landings. |
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Had a little trip from Tonbridge to Oak Weir lock,and then camped overnight,we didn't go any further as we had to go back upriver to Tonbridge as we had no way of getting back by road,so had to portage all the return locks,our canoes are 16 ft and fibreglass and with all the camping gear and a big dog aswell was a real back breaking effort but fun. only niggles really are "no points to tie off on some of the landing stages" and Tonbridge town lock having to climp steep stairs and then carry across the lock gate was a real effort. |
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Due to the size of the crane (120 tonnes) a temporary bridge was out of the question. Instead, the stream was filled with a large amount of angular stone placed over a large concrete pipe. The pipe is just large enough to take the stream's flow. All of this will be placed back in when the crane comes to leave. |
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