Lacock Blues- Jan 2007

It had rained. It rained a lot! "Where shall we paddle? Explore the Upper-Avon maybe?" says Martin. Darren says we can't because we won’t fit under all the low bridges. "How about Lacock?" he suggests. "Oh OK" answers Martin, full of enthusiasm. Darren picks up Ross and Simon from Chippenham and we meet at the national trust car-park bright and early. Changing and leaving Martin's car at the get out, we head up to Reybridge in Darren's car and hit the water.
There is mist rising of the water and the cold bites our fingers. It's an eerie scene as four paddlers head upstream towards Reybridge weir. Its hard work against the fast flowing current, and it takes a good ten minutes to get there. As we pass Ray Mill we see that at least 90% of the available water is being fed through the owner's new hydro-electric generator and its neighbouring sluice gates. This is unfortunate because the weir itself needs a fair bit of water in order to make a useful play-spot. The four paddlers head on up to the weir, easily paddling against the now minuscule amount of water coming down the weir-steam. Around the corner and we see the weir for the first time, its completely dry. What's more the mill owner has had a small concrete wall built on top of the weir in order to send even more water down towards his hydro-electric apparatus. There is quite a lot of water coming over the weir's sluice gate and there is a decent looking stopper in there which would no doubt provide some entertainment if it weren't for the huge rusty metal post sticking out of the water immediately below it. Disgusted we head back down to the bridge and amuse ourselves there for 5 minutes in the eddies below the arch pillars, before heading further downstream to a small weir at the mouth of a little brook.
The brook weir is quickly deemed boring too and again we head off downstream. There is a small step at the abbey, as we head down towards it Darren is talking about a weir. Simon and Ross get quite excited about the prospect. When we get to the abbey there is the tiniest of ripples on the surface of the water. "Where's this weir?" says Simon, "Er, this is it.....OK so I exaggerated a bit" says Darren. Nevertheless, this spot turns out to be the highlight of the trip. Ross manages some cartwheels, Darren and Martin are eventually persuaded to do something requiring a roll, and Simon manages to get each end of his boat just barely out of the water. "Was that anywhere near vertical" he says, "About 30 degrees to horizontal" is the reply. Eventually, with a few tips from the rest of us, Simon manages to stand his boat on its nose and even has to roll a couple of times.
Bored and cold Martin gets out early and goes back to the car to get changed. Darren, Ross and Simon continue down to Lacock bridge to play in the fast flow there. Eventually they return to the car and by now Martin is changed, warm and vowing never to paddle Lacock again. Like Langham farm on the Frome, Reybridge weir has been ruined by a mini hydro-electric scheme. The wall on top of the weir spoils a once excellent local play-spot perfect for introducing beginners to basic stopper skills. This sucks donkeys!!!

Hobbit