If Carlsberg Made Rivers ....

I stumbled upon this gem yesterday :)

and, indeed, why not celebrate the River Avon 

and its long history of navigation

The Tide has Gone out at Royalty Fisheries

Paddling on the tidal stretches of the Avon has never been contested and a number of local canoe clubs and outdoor centres enjoy the quiet tranquil upper stretches of the tidal Avon on a regular basis. The tidal limit is clearly demarked on Ordnance Survey maps and lies three to four hundred meters above the A35 bridge at Christchurch. Indeed, up until very recently Royalty Fisheries used to have signage at this point marking the line at SZ 157933 (above). They even had a line strung across the river here at one point!

Southern Fisheries Ltd, a commercial organisation based in Tunbridge Wells has long leasehold interest on the entire Royalty Fisheries at Christchurch

This company seems to be waging a campaign against canoeists paddling on the Avon, both the tidal and non-tidal stretches. They seem to be playing an environmental card to safeguard their commercial interests claiming that canoeing causes damage to the SSSI, SAC and RAMSAR site. It appears that this action is independent of Natural England and that they have enlisted the police to evict canoeists from the river on two occasions in May 2011. I believe, during this time, others have received a number of threatening calls from someone attesting that no canoeing is to be permitted above the Priory at Christchurch (approximately 1 km downstream of the tidal limit)

Perhaps not coincidentally, The old sign (above) has been removed and 5 new signs adorn the banks - before and around the A35 bridge, downstream.

 Ugly, Depressing, Illegitimate, Threatening
Has the tide gone out at Christchurch? :)

Caffyn on Rivers

In 2007, the Rev'd Douglas Caffyn wrote a paper arguing that there is a Right of Navigation on the River Avon by virtue of Statute, Historic Use and Dedication. 

The University of Sussex has awarded Douglas a Doctor of Philosophy degree for his subsequent thesis to establish the extent of river transportation in the period 1189 - 1600. He has now published this thesis, together with his earlier work “The Right of Navigation on Non-tidal waters and the Common Law“ These, together with a more accesible booklet titled "Boats on our Rivers Again" are available at http://www.caffynonrivers.co.uk/

Douglas Caffyn has concluded in his opinion that:- 

1. From 1189 to 1600 there was a public right of navigation on all rivers which were physically usable.
2. Rivers were more navigable in the period 1189 to 1600 than they are now.
3. A right of navigation can only be extinguished by statute, statutory authority or the section of river becoming un-navigable.
4. There is, therefore, a public right of navigation on all unregulated rivers which are physically usable.

This is clearly a significant contribution to the access debate and a presumption in favour of  public access to inland waters nationally

Please note, however, that in the case of the River Avon there are additional factors that support the right of navigation, as discussed in the original paper