River Weaver Peer Paddle by Jacki J

River Weaver Peer Paddle by Jacki J

Sunday, 15th 2026, was one of the first bright days this year. It’s been a gloomy, grey, long winter and sometimes difficult to get out for a paddle. But I decided after a little nudge to put on a peer paddle to the River Weaver, and oh what a great day it was. 

Five of us met in the spacious car park at the Runcorn Rowing to commence a relatively gentle paddle. Or so they thought until I suggested an easyish paddle or a wee bit of an adventure??

It didn’t take much persuasion, and we decided as a group to go for the more adventurous route. Which I was most pleased about.

On entering the water after many layers of thermals, Sarah completed her first seal launch with a little help from John Fay. Sarah was most pleased when I smiled and hinted that it wouldn’t be the only one she’d be completing that day. 

We paddled right, towards the industrious workings of the formerly known ici buildings, which are quite interesting to see from the water. We headed towards a pontoon which I have frequently visited, knowing we could climb safely onto in order to portage our boats to the opposite side of the Weaver. 

The floating pontoon was not quite as it should be!!! For anyone thinking about doing this route, it may not be the best idea to climb upon this pontoon in its present state.

Anyway, after completing our accent we then had fun climbing and manoeuvring our boats down a wall where Sarah and I had help from Allan and Ali. As it was a little high for us to jump.

This next stretch of water is on the edge of the Manchester Ship Canal and is still used by incoming boats, but not very often and it’s big enough for us to have a look without going on the main channel. We go left and continue our journey up the Weaver Navigation, where the clay cliffs line the river. This stretch is an awesome viewpoint for seeing large flocks of Dunlin, Curlew and Black-tailed Godwits. Worth taking a set of binoculars if you’re an avid bird watcher. 

Near the last part of our adventure, we stopped for a rest at Frodsham Sailing Club, where we were welcomed to use their picnic tables. After a short rest and before we began to get too cold, we got back into our boats easily, apart from someone who got a bit wet, mentioning no names, JF. 

Under the bridge, we stayed to the left as this stretch is used by Frodsham Watersports, which is on the right-hand side, who hire out jet skis, which you can hear before moving past the bridge. Always best to let them see you before paddling in this area.

On the last leg, we are heading up the flow towards a weir, which we are on the downward flow of. We cross the water about 20ft in front of the weir and disembark on a small bank on the right-hand side of an old disused storm lock. Here, the bank is a bit wet, muddy and slippery, which we all found quite funny until we got to the top, where we were greeted by some very inquisitive young bulls.

The bank is about a four-foot drop, which you can’t get down unless you seal launch, which is a wee bit scary when it’s only your second one (Sarah & Ali). But when you have a bunch of 25 bulls sniffing your kayak, you’re off that bank pretty fast. Well, I was anyway. We all got down with a nice big splash, and John Fay was last and even got to stroke a bull’s nose.

Half a mile left on the journey, we smiled, laughed and giggled and were happy we took the adventurous route. 

River Weaver Peer Paddle by Jacki J