How to get there - From A690 (Leazes Road) in Durham turn down Freeman's Place. Park a few hundred yards past an old ice rink.
For those with SatNav a nearby postcode is DH1 1SQ.
Get a map with driving directions to start or end (enter the postcode of your starting point at A)
Suggested Launch Site - Launch from the ice rink car park on the right bank downstream of Durham's last weir. Don't tackle the weir.
General
Description - The five miles to Finchale Priory have good flow with some grade 2 rapids. Easy enough in a kayak but take care in a canadian.
Land left in the middle of the rapid just below the footbridge at Finchale Priory.. Good campsite. The next 8 miles to Chester-le-Street are pretty much all smooth water. Plenty of easy landing points by the bridge in Chester-le-Street.
I last paddled this about six years ago and experienced no problems, but there have been more recent reports of abusive fishermen.
Comments on this trip
Roger Greenhalgh 07 Dec 2008
When I was a student at Durham in the 1960s, we used to do this section in kayaks. Canoeists might be interested in www.geograph.org.uk/photo/208155 It is a web site with a photograph of the River at Finchale. You can also find photographs from all over the British Isles on www.geograph if you are planning a trip.
