INTRODUCTION Nice scenic paddle. Easy rocky rapids.

WATER LEVEL Rock bash when low, the more the better.

ACCESS Put in at Reeth, on the the Arkle Beck (043 992, OS sheet 98); within 500m it joins the Swale, alternately at Grinton (046 985). Take out at Richmond town centre.

DESCRIPTION Inspect Richmond town falls, best run on far right for pool drop. Good rapids below in high water.The section plays host to the annual Swaledale Outdoor Club charity paddle (www.tinyurl.com/2fg4vc) in aid of Swaledale Mountain Rescue and the Great North Air Ambulance.

OTHER IMPORTANT POINTS The Arkle Beck is paddle-able at grade 2/3. Access is from Whaw bridge or Langth-waite. The water level needs to be very high as the levels drop quickly. It provides a quickly descending, narrow, rocky run down to Reeth where it joins the River Swale.Easby Abbey has a good playspot in high water, although access is not ideal. There is also a good medium water play-spot just east of Richmond at Catterick bridge (228 995), with a wave and eddies.

Contributor: Russ Smithy

Tree Rapid, during the 2004 Swale Charity Paddle | Andy Waddington

Pesda Whitewater Mini-Guide

LOWER SWALE #06

WWW.CANOEKAYAK.CO.UK

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Excerpt adapted from Engl ish White Water, the BCU Guidebook

ISBN 0953195678, publ ished by Pesda Press, Caernarfon. For

detai ls of this and other books, as wel l as downloads of mini-guides and

route cards in this series, v is i t :

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LENGTH 19 km

OS SHEET 98/99

GRADE 2 (3)

PESDA WHITEWATER MINI-GUIDE #06LOWER SWALE

OS map data reproduced with the kind permission of the Ordnance Survey

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1km0Design & text adapted from the BCU guide to English White Water, published by Pesda Press, Caernarfon.