Kingsgate Bridge put-in
This slipway sits on the River Wear in central Durham, close to Kingsgate Bridge on the Elvet side of the city. The river cuts a deep, wooded gorge here as it loops around the Durham Cathedral peninsula.
The Wear at Durham is non-tidal, with the normal tidal limit well downstream near the Lambton Estate, and it is a spate river draining the North Pennines, so levels can rise quickly after rain: changes recorded upstream at the Stanhope gauge take around six hours to reach the city.
Two historic mill weirs mark the ends of the loop the river makes around the peninsula: the older, below Prebends Bridge upstream of the launch, dates from at least 1172, while the weir at Framwellgate and Milburngate on the far arm now carries an Archimedes screw hydro turbine alongside a fish pass.
The launch sits close under the Grade I listed Kingsgate Bridge, Sir Ove Arup's last design and, at 106.7 m, its longest span. Durham University owns the bridge, though the county council has maintained it as a public footbridge since adopting it in 2005, and the Brutalist Dunelm House, home to Durham Students' Union, steps down the bank immediately alongside.
The reach carries a migratory run of salmon and sea trout, historically tracked by a fish counter at the Framwellgate weir, and otters have returned to the river alongside its resident cormorants.
Nearby
Cafe at 3b Old Elvet, Durham.
Conditions to check
A second weir at Framwellgate and Milburngate, on the river's far arm, fitted with an Archimedes screw hydro turbine and an adjoining fish pass.
SourceThis reach is among the most crowded stretches of river in England: sixteen university colleges, several schools and the town rowing club use it for rowing, alongside hired dinghies, a pleasure cruiser and other watersports, all within a 2.5 km stretch.
SourceDurham Amateur Rowing Club's Rules of the River mark a no-turning zone for boats approximately 50 m upstream and downstream of Kingsgate Bridge.
SourceDurham Amateur Rowing Club suspends its own senior crews from launching once the river covers the downstream retaining wall of the city landing, and stops all crews launching in rising flood conditions.
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