Castle Weir (Hertford)
From Wikipaddle
| 2-step weir, River Lea | |
| Grade | 2+ (at low levels) 3 (at medium/high levels) 3+/4- (at very high/spate levels) Please note, weirs are not normally graded, this is a simple difficulty reference level |
| Location | |
| Country | England |
| Region | Hertfordshire |
| Lat | 51.796463796064685 |
| Lon | -0.08026778697967529 |
| Directions, Google earth | |
Castle Weir is a weir on the River Lea at the Hertford Loop.
Contents |
Access
A car park is located next to Castle Weir on St. Andrews Street. The weir is also accessible from the standard Hertford Loop put-ins.
Description
Castle Weir is the most technical (in all senses) weir in Hertford. It can be broken down in the following sections:
Main drop
A vertical 70 cm drop onto a second 30 cm concrete block, situated in a stilling pool. This is the primary route for flow of water. Two sluice gates flank either side of the main drop and are used at very high flows.
At most flows there are two eddys on either side of the stilling pool. If one sluice gate is open, it has the effect of forcing you into the corner of the weir, and into the second stopper.
The second stopper is a shallow pour-over. It is approximately 2ft/60cm deep.
The river splits, one way to the main weir pool the other under the road through a tunnel.
Stepped drop
The stepped drop is a series of broken concrete steps into a large weir pool. Water flows over the steps in the high water season, but during dry periods will stop working. It is not worth running this in anything except high flows or your boat's hull will wear out quickly.
5 sluice gates
These used to be controlled by locals to prevent flashflooding, but are now controlled by British Waterways. These were refurbished in late 2006, padlocked shut and have not been in use since.
Water Levels
Low
- Main drop - can be a scrape. Straight forward drop onto slab.
- Second stopper - playful and friendly. Ideal for beginner whitewater paddlers to learn sidesurfing and sculling support.
- Other drops - dry and unrunnable.
Medium
- Main drop - easy drop onto slab.
- Second stopper - more towback, small popouts can be performed.
- Steps - bad scrape, not worth attempting.
High
- Main drop - more care is needed to make the eddy. A wave forms after the slab which can be front and sidesurfed.
- Main sluice open - strong cross current which knocks you into second stopper. Hard eddy line is created, cartwheels possible.
- Second stopper - chunky and retentive. Escape is possible river left. Doesn't hold swimmers.
- Steps - runnable but will still can scrape in places.
Very High/Spate
- Main drop - very fast flowing current over main drop. Eddys are now micro, and require careful positioning of your boat.
- Main sluice open - massive cross current and highly turbulent water.
- Second stopper - very chunky, massive towback. Not seen any paddlers in it at this level, so unsure if it lets you out.
- Steps - easy to paddle over. A shallow wave forms in a broken section on the right hand side of the weir, fun to front and side surf in.
- Tunnel - a wave forms at the downstream end of the tunnel. Front surfing is possible. Strong eddyline, and deep water - squirt boating downtime is possible too.
