Finding Fresh Air, Fun & Adventure in 2024

Keeping in mind that ALL children must be aged 5 years or older to canoe or kayak, here’s a general guide:

2-PERSON CANOE OR KAYAK is suitable for either
• TWO ADULTS or
• ONE ADULT WITH ONE CHILD AGED 8 OR OVER…

3-PERSON CANOE is suitable for either
• THREE ADULTS or
• TWO ADULTS WITH ONE CHILD or
• ONE ADULT WITH TWO CHILDREN (who’s ages added together equal 15 or more)…

4-PERSON CANOE is suitable for either
• TWO ADULTS WITH TWO CHILDREN AGED UP TO 10 YEARS OF AGE or
• ONE ADULT WITH THREE CHILDREN (who’s ages added together equal 27 to 36)…

The above is a guide only – advice may vary depending on what trip is under consideration

CANOE OR KAYAK RIVER TRIPS (also see “Best Use” above): 

An adult aged 18 or over must be in each canoe. 

No children under 5 years of age* 

Ratios of adults to children are also important. For example, it would not be considered safe for one adult to set off in a 4-person canoe with 3 six-year-olds. However, two adults with 2 six-year-olds would generally be ok.  

Recommendations & Restrictions may also vary depending on the trip. We’ll advise further when you call to book. 

STAND-UP-PADDLEBOARD RIVER TRIPS: 

Each booking must include at least one adult aged 21 or over 

No children under 13 years of age 

Safe ratios of adults to younger teenagers are also important: 

One person aged 21+ can supervise no more than 2 younger teenagers (aged 13 to 17). 

Small groups of 18 to 20 years olds require one person aged 21+. 

Nobody aged less than 21 will be allowed to supervise younger paddleboarders. 

HIRE ON THE LAKE: 

An adult aged 18 or over must be in each craft, and minimum age restrictions as follows: 

Pedalo – Min age 3-years* 

Katakanu – Min age 4-years* 

* IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL NOTES: Some younger children of perhaps 3 to 4 years may be too small for our smallest buoyancy aids. If this is the case, we are very sorry, but they will NOT be able to take part!

You don’t need to be a gym-bunny to paddle the Nene, but a reasonable level of fitness is helpful as some physical effort is required to paddle, and particularly to move your craft by the locks. Most trips involve moving by one or more locks along the river. Often picturesque places to take a break or picnic, these locks require some physical effort & strength to portage your craft a short distance on land. When choosing between Canoes or Kayaks it’s worth keeping in mind that we provide great little sets of wheels (portage trolleys) with Canoes, but this isn’t possible with Kayaks due to a lack of space, so more carrying is necessary.  Stand-Up-Paddleboards are easy to carry so don’t require wheels.  Our individual trip descriptions sometimes refer to “More Challenging” or “Trickier” paddles. These involve one or more locks that require a little more effort, or perhaps using a backwater to pass. Backwaters have moving water requiring a little confidence & steering experience. It’s worth also mentioning that any lack of strength & fitness can often be offset by a positive mindset, a little determination & confidence. We do give you loads of good advice before you set off, and if you have any doubts at all, please give us a call to discuss before booking. Stand-Up-Paddleboarding requires a different skillset to canoeing or kayaking, and if you’ve never done it before (or if you need more help with standing), you’ll definitely need one of our one-hour introductory lessons before hiring a SUP board to take on the river.

Many of our Canoe & Kayak trips can be enjoyed by complete novices – We give you a thorough briefing and loads of good advice. If in doubt, start with a shorter trip, or just give us a call for further advice. Stand-Up-Paddleboarding requires a different skillset to canoeing or kayaking, and if you’ve never done it before (or if you need more help with standing), you’ll definitely need one of our one-hour introductory lessons before hiring a SUP board to take on the river.

On the lake, you can hire a pedalo on your own, so long as you are 18 or over. On the river, ALMOST certainly not. Our canoes & kayaks are aimed at 2 or more people, and even if you are likely to be able to handle one on your own, there is always a certain element of safety in numbers. Stand-Up-Paddleboards are only used one person to a board, but we still apply our “safety in numbers” reasoning, meaning you must always have at least two people (and two boards) in your group. That said, if have evidence of being an experienced and qualified paddler (perhaps BCU qualified) to a standard that we consider appropriate, we’ll be happy for you to hire on your own.

The locks along the river make great rest points, many being very picturesque. Access to and from the river either side of the locks is generally via portage platforms (low level platforms either side of the locks). Where portages are not available, access varies but is typically via boat moorings or low level floating pontoons.  When choosing between Canoes or Kayaks it’s worth keeping in mind that we provide great little sets of wheels (portage trolleys) with Canoes, but this isn’t possible with Kayaks due to a lack of space, so more carrying is necessary.  Stand-Up-Paddleboards are easy to carry so don’t require wheels. On a full day paddle you might pass by 4 or 5 locks, though some are bypassed by enjoying nearby backwaters. Do note that a certain level of physical exertion is required moving your craft by the locks, or onto the backwaters. If in doubt, don’t hesitate to give us call to discuss further.

No, we’re a nice bunch, but you don’t want to listen to us banging on about how fabulous our river is ALL day. We do however spend 20 minutes or so talking you through a thorough safety briefing, and the basics of paddling your canoe, as well as some great tips on how best to enjoy your day on the river.

Sorry, but no. There is a risk of impact injury

We get an incredible number of requests each year from various charities and schools for Gift Vouchers to be used as raffle prizes and the requests are increasing each year. To keep on top of these and to keep it as fair as possible, our policy is: We only give to charities that are local to our stretch of the Nene Valley, within a few miles of the River between Rushden and Oundle. We prefer a request by email or at least an email address given. There must be a Registered Charity Number on the email or attachment. If the request is from a school, there must be a school logo visible. All qualifying requests received each month are placed in a container and at the end of that month we draw out TWO requests, the two chosen will each receive a voucher to cover a half hour Lake Hire for up to four people at our base at Rushden Lakes and a digital e-voucher will be supplied via email. Therefore, if you have not heard from us by the 5th day of the following month you will know you haven’t been successful.

There often are, especially early in the year as we prepare for the coming Spring/Summer season, so please see our jobs page.

Not from our Kayaks or Stand-Up-Paddleboards, but in our Canoes, Yes, on the river, so long as you’re on the river within the fishing season, from 16th June onwards*, and you have an appropriate Environment Agency rod license – https://www.gov.uk/fishing-licences *Fishing isn’t allowed on the river between 15th March and 15th June. As our canoe hire season begins mid-March and runs to mid-October, this pretty much means you have around 4-months to fish from our canoes – from 16th June onwards. This applies to canoes only, we do not allow fishing from kayaks or stand-up-paddleboards.

Sorry, no – all the land is private. But our recommended camp location is very small scale, being a field with no more than the most basic facilities (cold water tap, and a portaloo)

You don’t need a wetsuit for canoe or kayak hire during our open season. Capsize doesn’t happen often, but yes, occasionally it’s possible to capsize, so we give you loads of great advice on how to avoid capsizing, and also how to deal with it if you do end up going for a swim. Capsizing is not in itself disastrous, and we’ll make sure you are well prepared, and that you are wearing your properly fitted buoyancy aid. Will this leave you wet & a little uncomfortable? Absolutely, but you’ll probably have had quite a laugh too!

If you’re taking a Stand-Up-Paddleboard (SUP) in April or May when the water and air temperatures at cold, you must bring your wetsuit (we don’t hire them). Frankly, you are far more likely to end up in the water, particularly if you’re fairly new to it. Again, we’ll give you lots of good advice, and also we won’t let you simply hire a SUP board if you’ve never done it before (or you have, but your still not confident) – We’ll ask you to first take one of our 1-hour introductory lessons to make sure you are confident & comfortable standing on your board before we let you hire a board to take off down the river. Given the increased likelihood of ending up in the water when paddleboarding, you should wear a wetsuit if SUP’ing in April or May. We don’t hire wetsuits, so please be sure to bring yours if booking SUP paddleboarding for April/May. From end of May onwards, we expect water and air temperatures to be sufficient that wetsuits are not necessary…

No – so long as you are confident that you won’t panic if you ended up in the water. You’ll be wearing your buoyancy aid (provided), so, so long as you stay calm, you won’t need to swim. How do we know you’ll be wearing it? Because we will INSIST that you wear it – whether you like it or not (yep, we’re pretty tough like that, so don’t mess with us)

Lots of our trips include transport one-way, so that you only paddle downstream. The only exceptions to this are our “Paddle Out & Back” trips from Rushden Lakes, when you, well, err……… paddle out and back grin The River Nene is a very gentle river, controlled by locks, so during most conditions, paddling upstream is quite easy (though, funnily enough, not quite as easy as downstream), so our “Paddle Out & Back” trips work well most days – we will of course advise if this is not the case on any given day.

Based on the way we worded the question, you already knew that was a “Yes”. You’ll have a thorough verbal safety briefing, paddle demonstration to run through the basics of paddling your canoe, and some discussion regarding where you’re heading before you set off. You’ll also be given a printed & laminated copy of the safety briefing to take with you. For full day trips & longer, you’ll also take with you a laminated map, and description of the best way past each lock along the river. All-in-all, you’ll be incredibly well prepared by the time you set off, and with such an easy-going, calm river, we have no hesitation in recommending any of our trips to complete novices (subject of course to our age restrictions & various other recommendations. SUP particularly requires some level of practice & experience, and likely an introductory lesson)

Varies Enormously, from one to perhaps four metres deep

Yes. For Canoes it’s extremely generous – The canoes can take, in principle, up to around 80 stone or so. Kayaks are a little more weight limited, and certainly more space limited. Maximum weight on a Stand-Up-Paddleboard is 18 stone (combined weight of the person and any picnics, extra clothing taken along etc) If you are particularly tall, with a lot of weight up high, that can influence stability of the craft, but best to give us a call and discuss.

The simple answer to this one is that our discounts are real. If we were to artificially inflate prices before discounting them, it would be easy for us offer, say, “40% off everything”. But when discounts are real, we have to look very carefully at what we can truly afford to offer. Depending on our costs, trip popularity, and your group, various trips offer varying potential for discounts. We also work as closely as possible with suppliers, who sometimes assist us with promotions, so again this can mean that some types of trips can be reduced more than others. You may have been watching us for a while, and maybe you’re signed up to our mailing list? If so, you’ll have noticed that booking well ahead, for the following season is when you get the best deal. The reasoning for this is simple – you can imagine that our cashflow is rather better in the Summer than the Winter, but we still really want to put a turkey on the table at Christmas, and treat our kids to a day out in the February half-term, so we offer the very best deals in the Autumn & Winter, particularly before Christmas, in an effort to get your booking in early.

Not always for lake hire, but for River Trips, Definitely! Each of our many & varied river trips start at fixed times, and two different starting locations, so when you book we’ll confirm where & when to meet us. Subject to availability, paddles of one day or less can often be booked as late as lunchtime of the day before, whilst longer trips, particularly “Short Breaks” that include accommodation, should ideally be booked at least 5 days before your trip. The key phrase here of course is “Subject to Availability”, and we’d always recommend that you book much farther ahead. Typically, our customers tend to book Short Breaks at least a couple of months ahead, and day trips 3 or 4 weeks. Our busiest times are exactly when you would imagine – weekends through June to September, and the whole of the school summer holidays. We have a lot of canoes, kayaks and stand-up-paddleboards, but they do all book out for those busy weekends, and remember if you’re looking for one of our “B&B” trips, some of these also book well ahead.

If your trip is downstream only, we’ll pick you up and take you back to your start-point.

Ah, that old Chestnut! The great British weather – 

Well, the good news is that we have loads of fabulous days throughout the whole season, March to October.

All of them? No, if we’re completely honest, perhaps not, so we do like to apply our “Common Sense Weather Policy”, which looks something like this: 

• You say “It’s pretty horrible out there – lashing down, and the forecast says it’ll be like it all day, and it’s getting cold”. We say, “Yes, it is pretty horrible isn’t it. It’s actually safe if you want to go, no wind or storms. But we completely understand, let’s get you booked in for another day” 

• OR  

• You say “It’s a little bit rainy today, not quite perfect, can I have my money back please? We say “Don’t be silly, it’s really not a bad day – get out there and enjoy it”. You say “Yeah but we have young children and really want them to get the most out of their first day on the river”. We say “OK, fair point, but we really can’t refund for a little rain – let’s postpone your booking to another day – When can you make it?” 

• OR 

• We say “The weather is dangerously bad – high winds and storms – Sorry, but we can’t let you go out on the river today. Can we find another date for you, so you don’t miss out?”. You say “Fine, of course, we can go on…….” OR you say “You must be kidding, it took me a month to get these 14 people together on one day, and you think I’m going to find another day just like that”. We say “OK, fair enough, really sorry, but as it’s us saying you can’t go, and you can’t find another date, would you like your money back instead?”

For around 6 months of the year, from early April to the end of September. During this time, our daily opening is as follows: 5 days a week (no hire Tuesday or Wednesday) 7 days a week during School Summer Holidays Not all trips are available every day, so please do phone or email for detail: [email protected] 01933 522 223

• For trips starting at Rushden Lakes, the nearest Station is Wellingborough. You would then need to take a short taxi ride of around 10 minutes to our base at The Boathouse.

• For trips starting at Thrapston, the nearest Station is Kettering. You would then need to take a taxi ride of around 20 minutes to our meeting place at Thrapston Nine Arches Bridge.

Yes, but be sure to book a canoe (NOT a kayak, stand-up-paddleboard, pedalo, or katakanu) Your furry friends are welcome in our canoes, just be sure to let us know beforehand. Depending on the size and temperament of the dog, they can potentially make the canoe unstable. However, lots of our customers have taken dogs with them without any problems and had a great time. See below though for overnight trips…

• If camping, then dogs are allowed, but MUST stay on leads please.

• B&Bs – This varies, so please contact us regarding your options.  But if you fancy our two-day “Champing” option, dogs are definitely allowed to stay in the church.  Best to give us a call to discuss your options.