A cheeky run with Paul; low-ish but ok level. Saw a team paddle down from below the road bridge and shoot the weir above the Newby Bridge put-in - a first for me and thankfully no fishermen or EA folk about otherwise potential problems (this area being a known spawning area for salmon and so makes sense to treat it as out of bounds or risk a bollocking or worse...)
Made a change to have options on some of the rapid sections (as at the levels we've grown used to the river has been so deep and fast that many technical bits become wave trains, fun but not too testing). Paul was happy enough to run Backbarrow without stopping, having had a look from the road during the shuttle and the resulting grin on Paul's face said it all - he ran a good line and came out upright despite a major taily under the bridge. From then on all was good, Graveyard and Fisherman's Gorge didn't cause any problems and Paul now has knocked off the full run to Haverthwaite.
New "Private" signs have appeared river left above the road bridge at Haverthwaite and, coincidentally maybe, we had our first exchange of the year with a couple of fishermen above the Brickshoot; one said that he though we shouldn't be on the river (as I asked if passing behind them would be ok) - no hassle, but still that sense of "them and us" with their view that they have exclusive use of the river.....
Back to Sue's in the afternoon and a wander past the Sir John Barrow monument on Hoad Hill above the town to stretch 12 pairs of legs (Sue's, mine and the two dogs). Born in 1764, Sir John is recognised as one of Ulverston's success stories, having been an explorer and Second Secretary to the Admiralty during the Napoleonic Wars; the website (see Links) is worth a look. We were rewarded for the minmum effort involved with great views of the snow covered Coniston fells; typically I'd left my camera in the car!
The Sir John Barrow Monument (image from Google)
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