THE MURKY AREA OF RIVER-ACCESS RIGHTS

“You’ll never get through,” was something we heard often on rivers across the country. Although it was meant as a warning about water levels, fallen trees and weirs, there was little doubt that some people simply didn’t want us to be there. There was the odd encounter with a landowner standing with crossed arms on the bank; wooden posts nailed together across the flow; and even a strand of barbed wire hidden beneath the surface.

While in Scotland and other European countries there is a public right to access non-tidal rivers, across England and Wales there is (with British Canoeing membership) undisputed access to just 4% of rivers; roughly 1,400 miles of largely slow-moving water out of the 42,700 available. To journey elsewhere, according to landlords, particularly the Angling Trust, is to commit trespass – a civil offence that allows landowners to seek damages or an injunction. Over the past 15 years paddlers have pushed back, claiming the right to explore and enjoy what is a significant part of our natural world. Research by Dr Douglas Caffyn, whose MA and PhD focused on historic river access, made waves when he argued that non-tidal rivers (there is no dispute over access to tidal parts of rivers) have always been public and nothing in law has ever been done to change that. His views, supported by British Canoeing, were challenged and the Angling Trust and Dr Caffyn hired QCs to argue over everything from Magna Carta to the similarity (or otherwise) of paths to rivers. DEFRA says the law around river access is unclear, and that navigation issues are best thrashed out locally by paddlers, landowners and anglers. A few such access agreements have been made but, for now, the prospect of more people being able to enjoy our rivers seems little more than a pipe dream.