amphibious commute.

tim_wand
tim_wand Posts: 2,552
edited January 2011 in Commuting general
My daily commute to work is 14 miles by nasty A roads upon which I probably have a brown trouser moment at least once a day due to the speed and proximity of passing traffic.

However I live 100 yards from a slipway next to the river trent which used to be an old Queensferry/Kingsferry crossing.

If I crossed the river here ( old town canoe/ row boat ) rather than by the road bridge some 5 miles away, I could cut my commute by at least 7 miles and do it all on country B roads.

The path to the slipway is a bridleway and the path from it to the next B road is Bridleway, although the property on the adjacent bank looks private.

My questions. do I have a right at my own risk to leave a canoe/boat chained to the bank on either side to use for my crossing?

Is there no ancient by law about Queens Ferrys/ Kings Ferrys having a right to be maintained as a byway/ crossing.

Anyone know a good way to carry a bike on or in a canoe or a boat?

Those interested im thinking of crossing the Trent at Farndon Notts (O/S landranger Grid Ref 768 521 ) to the Rolleston Bank for an onward commute to Southwell (Cutting out Kelham Bridge the A46 and A617)

Any thoughts.

Comments

  • ride_whenever
    ride_whenever Posts: 13,279
    An old punt would probably be the easiest. I regularly take my mtb across the river in oxford in one. Padlock it out of sight with a sturdy chain, ideally with the chain through the paddle and leave an old plastic jug for bailing it out after the rain.

    HOWEVER

    rivers can be extremely treacherous, I really wouldn't do this unless you've got a fair bit of experience on that particular stretch and know the stream relatively well and can assess river conditions fairly accurately.
    Neeermad
    Carbon 456
    456 lefty
    Pompino
    White Inbred
  • walkingbootweather
    walkingbootweather Posts: 2,443
    Interesting idea. Like RW I'd caution against this unless you were sure you knew what you were doing. You certainly couldn't do it if you needed to cross private land unless you had the permission of the land owner.

    Looking at Google maps the most obvious crossing point is perhaps at Fiskerton http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&q=53.051094,-0.901249&ie=UTF8&gl=uk&rq=1&split=0&sll=53.051094,-0.901249&sspn=0.002486,0.004812&ev=zo&t=h&ll=53.051294,-0.901437&spn=0.002486,0.004812&z=18

    Might be worth having a pint in the Bromley Arms and speaking to some locals. If nothing else you get to have a pint, right?

    Let us know how it goes.
    Nobody told me we had a communication problem
  • tim_wand
    tim_wand Posts: 2,552
    There used to be a ferry at East stoke / Fiskerton point which moored straight outside the Bromley Arms, I do have the odd pint in there so maybe a good place to canvas opinion.

    Access to the bank from East stoke side is a bit treacherous it would be easier from Farndon. theres a slipway and several jetties, only its quite public and the security of any vessel would not be good.

    Dont fancy the punt/ had a go in Cambridge and was rubbish at it.

    I ve canoed a bit on the Trent and obviously would not try to cross when the river was up.

    Thanks for the links to the Geo mapping, I ve had a look on Google and was thinking of crossing near the Farndon nature reserve to hit the end of Swallow Lane up to Rolleston and then onwards to Southwell race course.

    I m going to ride some recce's from the Southwell/ Rolleston side and see what it looks like.
  • walkingbootweather
    walkingbootweather Posts: 2,443
    Or you could get one of these...
    Nobody told me we had a communication problem
  • richara3
    richara3 Posts: 153
    Nice idea... Build something like this

    http://www.duckworksbbs.com/plans/jim/jon_jr/index.htm

    A !/2 inch plywood bottom ( get marine ply or an exterior grade type ) and some 1/4 inch stuff for the sides. Paint it with floor paint or decking paint , some cheap oars and jobs done for less than a couple of hundred quid . possibly way less than a couple of hundred !

    Andy

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