Our roving reporter Mr Dan has been out and about, here is his latest news.

After a good weekend in Scotland at the wet west fest I was keen to get back in my boat last weekend. River levels were low so Danny and I opted for the Washburn, it was a sunny day and the car park was surprisingly quiet. A pleasant change to Scotland.

The people at the Washburn have made a few changes to the river, they are as follows.

First there is a big concrete access ramp about 5m wide sloping until submersed. This makes getting on much easier and friendlier.

Second there is a new gravel road part built down river left of the river for better access. This is still under construction and there are plans for a car park on this side lower down. This will hopefully save crappy shuttles up and down the road.

On the river there are a few changes too making it more interesting.

The main drop as pictured in Rookies blog is the same but the pool below it has had its out flow reduced to try and make the eddies bigger and deeper. This has worked to a reasonable degree a bit of fine tweaking will complete this. Downstream from here there are more groynes and baskets of rocks in the rive creating more features and eddies. Another concrete ramp has been put in for egress on the left making getting out much easier.

About 100m downstream another weir has been installed similar to the one at the top near the get in. But this one is steeper loosing roughly 1m in height and forms a chewier hole and stickier. This is great for cartwheels and loops. The pool below is nice and deep Danny managed to back loop his Burn whilst I bummed around in my playboat! The eddies however are small so you need to be quick with the roll.

Another 30m downstream V has landed very playful and fun. Watch out for the tree below could be an interesting outcome if a pin occurs.

That’s it for physical changes the people in charge are trying to arrange more releases. Overall great improvements so far let there be more to come. A great weekend had by all.

Cheers, Mr Dan

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