Improvements to Upper Medway Infrastructure

[oldgit]

Thats the locks and stuff to you and me.Once all the water boards etc had been privatised during the dark blue ages and anything and everthing of any value was flogged off, the Medway was left to quietly decay.
Now in more enlightened times the River is now once again seen as an asset (they do not apparently make them any more ).
A major refurbishment has been under way over last year or three with many locks being upgraded and in one case completely rebuilt.
New fish passes and landing stages at some locks with low bits added to encourage the use of the river by canoes and other small craft.In addition piles have been driven into the river bed in some out of the way places to enable boats to moor away from the more popular spots.This website AllingtonLock set up by some enthusiasts who work ? for the EA covers virtually all the stuff done,with some excellent pictures to boot.
Please take a look even if your boating is only ever salty and should you ever wish to visit, the whole river can be done in few days but is best done at a leisurely rate and the MDL Marina at Chatham is a v.good starting point.

 

[Merlyn]

Hello oldgit,

Daughter no 1 plus family, 3 grandkids, live in Fordcombe, Kent with the Medway trickling past the end of the village. It might be nice to cruise up from the South Coast and spend some time tooling about closer to them for a month or so. Any idea how far could I realistically expect to get up the Medway in a 26x10x3 foot sports cruiser with twin outdrives and 8.5 feet air draught?

 

[sunquest]

Sounds a wonderful experience, unfortunately I cannot get under that large lump of stone with an arch in it at Aylesford!

 

[Kelby]

Hi - I've just about to invest in my first boat and as a result have some info on the medway,which might help, as wanted to know how far i could go.... so here goes:-
Draughts
Allington lock to maidstone 2mtr (6.5ft)
Maidstone to Yalding 1.7mtr (5.5ft)
Yalding to Tonbridge 1.2mtr (4.0ft)

Farleigh bridge seems to be the first real problem as its arched

To explain the best i can without pictures - imagine a box - 2.6 high by 4.0 wide and thats what you are approximatly tryin to get through.. (Allington Lock web site has a link to the EA bridge heights, but this info i got from a book called "map of the river medway" (Gillingham to Tonbridge) by Derek Bowskill (Imray)

Hope this helps

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I'm new here!!

 

[Merlyn]

Hello Kelby,

Very helpful, thanks. It looks like Great Bridge, wherever that is, will be the stumbling block @ 1.9 meters.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

Cannon Lane Bridge, about half a mile downstream of Tonbridge Town Lock is the pinch point, if you can get under East farleigh you may still ding that one. I know, been there...

The river's height can fluctuate quite fast if it rains and they start emptying the Leigh barrage to make storage available.

Big Bridge in Tonbridge is the realistic head of navigation for anything that would not expect to fit under a canal bridge.

 

[oldgit]

"and 8.5 feet air draught?"
You should be able to go all the way to Tonbridge.
This is the Ye olde Bridge at East Farleigh.

And the really low Cannon Bridge just outside of Tonbridge town centre.

We can just creep under this with care.The high st. is just round the corner.

The moorings (free) Tonbridge town centre

Us on our way up

The Meadows at Golden green. Free

mooring courtesy of a nice farmer.

My only suggestion is to keep to middle on the upper stretches as tickling the river bed with your props is the main worry.We draw 3ft and have an airdraft of just under 10 ft.
For a list of bridge profiles and other stuff go here
http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/recreation/boating/31577.aspx
You need to be fairly self sufficient food wise as most of the river is well away from civilisation ,however a few pubs are somewhat closer to hand

 

[frodo]

Upper Medway

As you can see from the photo of East Farliegh Bridge, going up stream the bridge is offset to the left which makes it a bit difficult It is best to stand in the middle of your boat line up and DRIVE your boat through fairly quickly.

 

[Merlyn]

Looks like a very peaceful and picturesque cruise up to Tonbridge then . Extra provisions can be lowered on board by no 1 daughter as I scrape under some of the lower bridges, although those sheep look tempting

Thanks for all the replies, should I go ahead with this cruise I'll post in advance and hopefully meet up with some of you in a hostelry or two along the way.

 

[oldgit]

Worth knowing.

Good luck with the trip.
Not sure where you are starting from but the following is worth knowing regards moorings once you come through Allington lock.

Allington. Mooring by lock with permission of lockies. Fairly quiet and very secure £5.00

Maidstone town Centre. Never paid yet ..but road noise and clubbers wendng they way home at 2am is a pain not very secure.Normally OK if other boats around.


East Farleigh. free new pile moorings just below lock,pub grub 2 mins away

Barming Bridge. Private mooring. Very nice spot.£10.00 per night with shower/BBQs and camping facilities.Deep water close to bank.

Just above Yalding.EA moorings £5.00.Excellent spot deep water.Nearset pub a dump better to walk to Yalding village about a mile awaywith better pubs/shop and a good Thai resturant.

Disused lock just above Yalding.Pile moorings miles from anywhere very quiet.

At the susquent locks you can moor at at any pile moorings or inside some of the landing stages.

Next spot of note is The Meadows at Golden green.Free and very popular in the summer but as there is something like 1/2 a mile of river bank this should not be a problem.
The only thing to remember is to pick up any rubbish and other peoples as well ,the site is paid for by ??????? and the farmer allows mooring only because people have acted responsibly over the years.

It is fairly unusual to see many boats beyond this spot as there are no further boatyards or permanent moorings.
There are pile moorings just before Cannon Bridge if you decide not to go under however it is worth trying to do that last mile right into the pound.
Ps.It has been suggested that a gang plank of some sort will greatly aid your shore access at all the pile moorings.Ours was made from a couple of garden decking planks with a coat of non slip deck paint.

 

[Merlyn]

I'd be coming up from Hamble so I guess that I would fill tanks and then start the Medway cruise from MDL at Chatham. How long would the gangplank need to be? I'm contemplating making one of those folding ladder passarelle contraptions discussed on another thread but that may not be long enough.

Thanks for all the info, very useful.

 

[oldgit]

Mine is what ever the standard length the stuff comes in about 2m ?.
The lock at MDL Chatham.