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New and IMPROVED egress on River Lune – Killington Road Bridge

Two years ago, on a grey and wet afternoon, a small group of paddlers were struggling up the steep bank, kayak on shoulders, trying to egress the river Lune at Killington Road Bridge.

We had noticed that there was a working party on the bank, doing some autumn clearance work on the Killington Reserve, owned by the Yorkshire Dales National Park.  Paul, a reserve warden, came over and asked “who is in charge …..”.  “Who wants to know …..” was the reply and a stilted and hesitant conversation ensued, as if another one of those landowner challenges was about to kick off.

Paul Wilkinson is the Yorkshire Dales National Park Warden for the Killington Reserve and was very keen to make contact with the canoe/kayak fraternity, with a view of discussing egress arrangements!  He was open, friendly, interested in supporting all users of the reserve and a breath of fresh air to discuss access with.

To cut a long story short, after 2 years of hard work from Paul, a pledge of a working party from Cumbria Canoeists and an offer of joint funding resulted in an improved egress facility. The steps  have been professionally installed. They are now a well used and extremely welcomed facility to help all paddlers to leave the river safely and arrive at the take out, next to the parked cars, on the road at Killington Road Bridge.

A big thank you must go out to Paul Wilkinson for his hard work and negotiating skills with his “Lords and Masters” at the National Park.  A thank you to the Yorkshire Dales National Park for agreeing the facility and for installing it so professionally - at NO expense to ‘Cumbria Canoeists’.

If all paddlers could note the preferred egress point is directly beside the road bridge, river left, which saves paddlers from a long, greasy and slippery drag through the reserve and protects the reserve from environmental damage of hauling boats along its banks and path.

Congratulations to all those involved in this simple and effective egress project, which has resulted in a “win-win” situation for all stakeholders involved in access and egress on the River Lune.

Mike Sunderland

Local River Advisor for the Lune

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I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mike and Cumbria Canoeists for helping to carry out this work, as well as Paul Wilkinson and the Yorkshire Dales National Park for enabling it to happen.   This is a great example of what can be achieved by local volunteers and the wider community.

Andy Green

Head of Access and Environment.

If you have any examples of similar Access projects that you or your club have been involved with please let me know at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

A request for Access volunteers, I would like to find out what information and training you would like to have available to help you carry out your role.  If you can send me your suggestions to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and I’ll see what we can do to help.

(Article taken from Canoe Focus 2010. Supplied by Mike Sunderland.)