Water levels up and down the Kennet Valley

With 2012 drawing to a close, and the national media full of articles and images reporting flooding around the country or warning of worse to come, the Kennet Valley has continued to produce high river flow rates and the River Kennet has over-spilled it's banks at a number of locations.

The upper reaches of the River Kennet

It's not often that the upper reach of River Kennet provides sufficient levels for paddling, but access to the water and around obstacles in the water course limit its potential.

The view from West Overton Bridge on Boxing Day was almost identical to that recorded a month ago at this location.

Downstream at Marlborough, the weir below Pewsey Road Bridge is the site of the EA gauging station.  Although levels were falling when this photo was taken after a Christmas Day high of 0.48m (the typical river level range for this location is between 0.04m and 0.37metres), at the time of writing today the river was still sitting at 0.43m.

From the northern slope of the Kennet Valley between Stitchcombe and Axford, where the River Kennet was out of its banks on the 26th December.

The river was already lapping over the fisherman's footpath downstream from Ramsbury bridge on Christmas Eve, whilst the extensive flooding of downstream fields from Knighton could be easily seen from the B4192.  The Knighton main river gauge is currently reading 0.61m (the more usual river level range for this location is between 0.08m and 0.43m).

At the broad bridge at Lackbridge Cottage below Littlecote the gauge marker was running out of numbers on the 26th.

The middle reaches of River Kennet

With limited access to the River Kennet along much of the middle reach inhibiting paddling, the riverine loop from Benham Weir provides the potential to detour away from the Kennet & Avon Canal all the way down to Newbury.

The left hand sluice by the old WW2 defence emplacement (be careful if walking here as the concrete base is being undercut and is gradually collapsing) is open for business...

...which has noticeably raised the river pool level, making an easy descent down the shortened main weir face...

...before proceeding downstream.  Note the sluice outflow cuts across the river and recirculates against the left bank before flowing away.

The river level was raised to the extent that it was overlapping the bank opposite the weir, and was sufficiently high on Boxing Day to submerge the end of the fish ladder and hide the steel bar that is located between the concrete arms at the bottom of the ladder.

For more images of what might be expected downstream from Benham Weir see the description from halfway down the post titled "The middle reach of River Kennet", but note that this was written in late 2009 (ignore the December 2008 date) and that river conditions may have changed.

It's also worth noting that with many flooded areas on the approach to Marsh Benham it's worth taking extra care on the roads.

 Milkhouse Lane, travelling back to the A4 from the Marsh Benham put-in.

The lower reaches of the River Kennet

Newbury's Victoria Sluices have been opened to help maintain the Navigation cut levels.

The Padworth to Ufton run has been demonstrating high flow rates and high water levels.  All of the following images were taken yesterday.

The gauge at Padworth Bridge showed the increase over the already high levels from 11 days previously.

Upstream from the bridge towards Padworth Mill on the public footpath, the river level has breached the bank top.

The view downstream from the put-in just above the bridge on the left bank.  It's still possible to pass under the bridge but watch your head.

Once beyond Padworth Bridge it's just a question of keeping to the river course, avoiding trees...

...and other well hidden hazards.

The River Kennet at bank full levels and beyond at Padworth.  These conditions continue down to Ufton bridge.

Once at Ufton the current water level may require portaging around the road bridge (unless you have a squirt boat perhaps), which, looking back upstream, begs the question how this tree debris got underneath.

Still further downstream at the Sulhamstead loop, there are also some interesting conditions.

Sulhamstead Weir hiding its collection of potentially lethal anti-scour rocks with fast flowing water...

...which has raised the level of this section to the height of the bank by the public footpath river left below the weir for an easy put-in.

The usual tree-fall hazards are avoidable with care.

Draper's Osier Bed Stream has enough water to go without scraping the bed at present, but mind your head and be aware of the upright angle iron embedded right in the centre of the middle channel.

Once below the weir a new willow tree-fall hazard from the right bank should be passable to the left, but watch out for other trees and branches as there is little room for manoeuvre once beyond the weir pool.

There's also an old footbridge framework not long before you reach Station Road bridge (unless it's been removed - this image is from 2009)...

...and with the water at this height - here shown looking upstream from the Station Road bridge - passage under the bridge itself might be blocked. 

Once back to the Kennet above Barbel Bar, be aware that the water flowing down from Shenfield Mill is at a very high level; note the submerged decking in this image.

Once through to Barbel Bar, you'll probably find that a reasonable playwave has returned.  Although almost washed out yesterday, the EA gauge shows that levels are now dropping.

Christmas paddling on the River Kennet

For those lucky enough to have some time off over Christmas, the lower River Kennet is looking likely to be in good form for paddling on it's riverine loops and detours, but the raised water levels are combined with a large number of potentially dangerous tree falls.

The BBC weather forecast for Newbury is currently predicting heavy rain on Wednesday 19th and Thursday 20th, with light rain anticipated daily from Friday right through into Christmas Day, the following Tuesday.  Taken with the ground water levels lying in the saturated valley, river levels are like to remain in the upper quartile of their normal range, if not well above in certain locations.

A quick tour of potential holiday paddle points illustrates what might be found.

Padworth to Ufton.

The gauge above Padworth Bridge shows that there is plenty of water in the run down to Ufton.

The River below the bridge was running deep and wide today.

Easy to put in just above the bridge river left where the overhead power lines mean that there shouldn't be any conflicting use by anglers.

Sulhamstead loop.

Sulhamstead Weir was helping to balance raised levels on the canalised sections of the Kennet Navigation last weekend.  Remember that if you decide not to portage, you'll have even less headroom under the footbridge, less time to pick a route, and limited visibility of the anti-scour boulders that lie beneath the weir.

Downstream of the weir, the island was disappearing rapidly.  The main channel flow is river left (next to the public footpath),...

...but you'll need to go river right as the Kennet turns sharply right below the weir to avoid this solid obstruction.

View from upstream, left bank.

View from upstream, left bank.

 

View from upstream, left bank. Other tree falls further down this section have been partially cleared of debris by the recent flow rates and are negotiable, but there is less time to pick your line due to the flow rate.

 

Southcote loop.

 

This section is now more accessible as the height of the weir pool has significantly increased by comparison to normal levels, but there are significant strainers along this section.

 

At more usual levels the narrow public footpath to the right of Southcote sluice weir requires caution to prevent falling over the bank (image from 2008)...

 

...but today the water was over the footpath, which would provide any easy put in to this section.

 

The normal choice of channels is normally fairly obvious but current water levels have produced a range of increased 'options' (head river left below the weir pool for the main flow)...

 

 

 

 

...and beware of the multitude of potential strainers.  After the first few tree obstacles where the footpath above the right hand bank remains inaccessable, the heightened river level provides for easier portage options.

Family friendly fun canoeing on the Kennet in Newbury

Under the title of "Deepest Berkshire's urban moving water" prolific local paddler Mal Grey (and by "prolific" I mean that, despite protestations that the boat rarely leaves his roof bars except when paddling, I still suspect he slings his Bell Prospector canoe up at nights not for storage, but for use as a hammock, just so that he doesn't waste sleeping time by not being able to at least dream of being out on a river) has described how the River Kennet can provide surprising opportunities for easily accessible paddling right under your nose.

The post on the Song of the Paddle forum blog describes a visit to friends in Newbury, who, faced with grey wet day, managed to pull an unexpectedly interesting and diverse short paddle out of the bag.  Some of Mal's pics of the day are interspersed with a few other photos which demonstrate that this route requires you to be there at the right levels, but that there is more to Newbury's waterways than just the canalised river and cuts. 

"Pete & I inevitably ended up exploring SOTP and Paddle Points checking out his local streams.

We found what looked like an interesting short route, using a backwater of the Kennet, and the K & A navigation, to make a short circuit of just a few miles. We nipped down to the Northcroft Leisure centre grounds, and found a reasonable get in straight onto the Northcroft Stream.

I was surprised by the speed of the current, and actually briefly a little concerned, as it entered dense trees immediately, and I was the only experienced paddler here. I nipped back to the car for the saw, as Pete assured me the trees were brief...

Off we went. The current was strong enough that I could only paddle against it with an effort, but a quick reccy and I was happy we could get through. The day was very dark, so there are few photos, and those are fairly poor!

Out from the initial trees, the current slowed slightly."

"We drifted downstream, and I played in the numerous eddies behind trees, whilst the lads investigated the branches of the said trees!

As we approached the town, more trees appeared, and the current got faster again. I spotted a low pipe ahead, so headed into the slower water on the left and got out to have a look. Yep, too low to definitely get under, and with fast water too, we weren't going to try! We climbed over on the left bank."

At this point it is possible to access Northcroft pay and display car park, the back of which is a short and easy walk through the trees behind the paddler.  This is also a convenient point to assess if there is enough water for paddling.

If there's more than a couple of meters distance between the left bank and the 'island' with the old fence railings, then there's probably sufficient water to paddle but too much to passage under the pipe in an open boat.

 

Once it gets this low, and the curving willow trunks are 'ashore', it's  too low to go.

"Beyond, the river swept quickly round a corner, blind enough and with a fast enough flow to make me think twice about just ploughing ahead, with thoughts of urban weirs or similar on my mind. It was easy to creep ahead in an eddy until I could see a clear route ahead leading to the end of the fastest bit, a pool below a weir from the canal. All of this was very easy, but the fact we didn't know what was ahead made it more interesting and almost adventurous!"

"Below here, a wider section is obviously used by the local club, and a few slalom gates hung above. I designated one of these, at random, as an upstream gate, and we all practiced our best Olympic C1 & C2 technique!"

Northcroft Stream where it broadens at the outflow from the canal at Dolton Mews...

...and just before it reaches the old slalom poles.

"And that was the end of our moving water adventure. A good half mile of it! A fun little bit, good to learn about currents and with enough eddies to play on. Still, the overhanging trees and pipe mean it isn't entirely without hazards."

The group then paddled downstream along the Kennet Navigation which starts from Newbury's Town Bridge, as far as Greenham Lock, and then back up to Newbury Lock, with more family members easily able to join the boats en route.  Following a short detour to explore the outflow route from the weir at the back of West Mills...

...the paddlers portaged around Newbury Lock and continued up the Kennet and Avon Canal to the edge of the town where the riverine Kennet converges at the top of Northcroft recreation grounds.

"We turned back to the weir above Northcroft Stream, and portaged it easily. Apart from me dropping my paddle into the weir...

Now we just had a few hundred yards to go, once again on fairly fast current, in the gathering gloom."
 

"The end of the circuit appeared beneath the bridge, and we all got out, somewhat soggy from the rain.

Mal's take out point was river right, just below the bridge (note the low trees here from the start of the account)...

...here shown at higher water levels in January 2010...

...and lower levels in December 2010, indicating a potential scraped hull for the inconsiderate paddler.