CSCC Reports 2017: St. Patrick's Stream - May 2017

Naomi, Ellie, Richard and Dan paddled St Patrick's stream on Sunday 21 May.  This is a beautiful stretch of the river in Wargrave which is not navigable by large boats and it has a natural feel - eg lots of reeds, water lillies, damsel flies and goslings.  There is a noticeable flow, because it is an alternative route to the main channel which has a lock.   It is quite meandering, so you also have to steer rather more than on the main channel, but there were no tree blockages.  Anglers' lines could be a bit of a hazard during the fishing season, because the stream is very narrow until it joins the River Lodden, but we were in the close season, so there was no aggro.  

We were also lucky with some fantastic weather and a surprisingly quiet St George and the dragon pub at lunchtime.  We followed up with a trip down the backwater on the other side of the pub.  This has less flow, but was also rather nice.  The huge variety of fancy houses by the river provided quite a bit of interest.

Our trip started and ended at Ferry Lane.  It would be foolish to park for long right by the river, but I didn't have any difficulty finding parking close nearby (£1 in the council car park on a sunday)

Photos here.