I’ve been doing most of my paddling/canoe sailing in Strangford Lough, since I restored the Canadian last year, so I’ve decided to try and explore some of the inland waterways of Northern Ireland and all they have to offer for a bit of variety.
My first outing was going to be a short paddle on the River Bann, from Shillington’s Quay in Portadown, but a local resident put me off a bit as he warned me that there are certain parts that would take me close to a housing development where the sight of a canoe in the water would attract the youth in their droves armed with catapults and bottles 🙁
This was disappointing because I had recced the area a couple of times by car and foot and thought the river looked fantastic.
This would have been my launch site:
Shillington’s Quay, Portadown
If anybody on here knows the area well or has any experience of canoeing in the area please could you let me know your thoughts on paddling from Shillington’s Quay. I really do like the look of it as a launch site and paddling through an urban area and getting to view it from a different perspective appeals to me.
So, instead of the Bann, I chose the River Blackwater instead and a bit of Googling seemed to suggest that if I got myself to Moy there would be decent access to the river for getting the canoe launched.
When I got to Moy I pulled into a car park purely by chance to do a U-turn and found that it had a public slipway and jetty and that turned out to be my starting point from where I could get the canoe wet and loaded up my ship mates and a picnic.
The route I was going to follow is shown below with my destination being The Argory, a National Trust property on the banks of the River Blackwater which I never new existed.
It turned out to be a fantastic route for the canoe. The river was wide, scenic, tree lined, slow moving and teeming with fish. Every 200 yards, or so, we would startle a fish which was swimming just below the surface and in turn it would make a large splash, trying to dive deep, making us jump too! Next time I set out on that river I think I will be trailing a trout spinning rig from the back of the canoe while paddling along and hopefully I’ll get a trout to BBQ for lunch 😉
Here’s a few photos to let you see the peaceful stretch of water from Moy to The Argory:
My trip to The Argory, up the River Blackwater, is only my second Northern Ireland river adventure, with the first being the Quoile River last year from Jane’s Shore to Inch Abbey.
I’m definitely going to explore more of our inland waterways before the end of the summer and I’m open to suggestions. Guide Books and “Set Routes” are all very well but it’s great to be given a heads up to somewhere a bit more interesting and not so well known.
Dowser
