Paddleboarding spots in Staffordshire

This slipway is at Wetton Mill, a National Trust site in the Manifold Valley in the Peak District, where the River Manifold runs past a former corn mill beneath limestone cliffs near Thor's Cave. For part of its course between Wetton Mill and Ilam the river runs underground except when in spate, so the visible flow past the mill can vary sharply with rainfall.

Trentham Lake slipway (Trentham Gardens)

This slipway opens onto Trentham Lake, a mile-long ornamental lake within the privately run Trentham Gardens estate south of Stoke-on-Trent. Trentham Canoe Club trains on the lake several times a week and introduced stand-up paddleboarding in 2023, so casual paddlers should check access with the club or the estate rather than assume open launching.

Trentham Lake slipway (south shore)

This second slipway reaches Trentham Lake from a point on its southern shore, within the same privately managed Trentham Gardens estate as the park's main access point but closer to Tittensor. As with the estate's other slipway, casual paddlers should confirm access with Trentham Canoe Club or the estate rather than assume open launching.

Stafford Boat Club Slipway

This slipway serves Stafford Boat Club's private arm off the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal, in the Penk valley south of Stafford near Acton Gate. The water in the club's arm is privately owned rather than managed by the Canal and River Trust, and the club sells Canal and River Trust licences for the wider network.

Ramshorn slipway

This slipway is named for Ramshorn, a hamlet in Ellastone parish, and lies close to the private Calwich Abbey estate, whose grounds hold a lake and medieval fishponds in the valley below the old abbey site. The estate is private land.

Norbury Junction put-in

This slipway sits on the short surviving stub of the Newport Branch (once the Shrewsbury Canal) at Norbury Junction, where it meets the main line of the Shropshire Union Canal. The stub's first lock has been converted to a dry dock and the remaining water is used mainly for private moorings by the boatyard, with the through main line still navigable.

Stowe Pool slipway

This slipway sits on Stowe Pool, a former mill pond on the eastern edge of Lichfield city centre that has served as a public amenity since 1968. The pool is a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its population of white-clawed crayfish and is stocked for anglers.

LHCRT Tamworth Road Slipway

This slipway sits on a restored pound of the Lichfield Canal near Tamworth Road, part of the Borrowcop Locks section that the Lichfield and Hatherton Canals Restoration Trust has been rebuilding since 1990. As of a September 2025 trust report this stretch was still an active construction site, with the pound holding water to support the works rather than for through navigation.

River

King's Bromley put-in

This slipway launches onto the River Trent at King's Bromley, within the grounds of Manor Park Sailing Club. A near-identical slipway is mapped about 65 metres away, likely the same physical launch point recorded twice.

Kettlebrook slipway

This slipway launches onto the Coventry Canal at Kettlebrook, a suburb immediately south of Tamworth town centre, on the canal's main line towards Glascote and Polesworth. The Canal and River Trust requires a waterways licence to launch a craft here.

Hatherton put-in (South Staffordshire)

This second slipway lies a short distance from way/547135757, also on the short navigable stub of the Hatherton Canal by Hatherton Marina near Calf Heath. The wider Hatherton Canal beyond the marina is derelict, with restoration ongoing.

Hatherton put-in (South Staffordshire)

This slipway sits at Hatherton Marina near Calf Heath, where the Hatherton Canal leaves the Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal. Most of the Hatherton Canal beyond the junction is derelict or lost to opencast mining, but this short stub by the marina remains in water.

Endon and Stanley put-in (Staffordshire Moorlands)

This slipway is at Endon Basin on the Caldon Canal, home to Stoke-on-Trent Boat Club's marina, on the canal's climb between Etruria and the Stockton Brook locks. The canal here receives compensation water from Stanley Reservoir a short distance south, and the Canal and River Trust requires a paddling licence on this stretch.

Drayton Bassett canal basin slipway

This slipway sits on a canal basin and marina on the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, just south of Fazeley Junction and close to the village of Drayton Bassett. The Canal and River Trust requires a waterways licence to launch a craft here.

Burntwood put-in

This slipway sits within the grounds of Chase Watersports Centre on Chasewater, near Burntwood. The centre describes itself as a members-based watersports club open 365 days a year across around 200 acres of the lake, rather than a public pay-to-launch site. A near-identical slipway is mapped about 23 metres away, likely the same launch point recorded twice.

Burntwood put-in

This slipway launches onto Chasewater, a former canal feeder reservoir immediately south of Burntwood that Staffordshire County Council manages as Chasewater Country Park. The lake hosts sailing, water-skiing, wakeboarding and paddleboarding through clubs and hire operators based at the park.

Burntwood put-in

This slipway meets Chasewater where a public footway reaches the shoreline, on the reservoir's northern side near Burntwood. Chasewater Country Park, run by Staffordshire County Council, hosts paddleboarding on the lake through operators such as Pier 52.

Burntwood put-in

This slipway meets Chasewater at the end of a service road on the reservoir's northern side near Burntwood. Chasewater Country Park, run by Staffordshire County Council, hosts paddleboarding on the lake through operators such as Pier 52.

Barton Turns slipway

This slipway sits on the Trent and Mersey Canal at Barton Turns, next to Barton Marina, between Barton-under-Needwood and Alrewas. The Canal and River Trust requires a waterways licence to launch a craft here.

Bagnall put-in (Staffordshire Moorlands)

This slipway reaches Stanley Pool, a reservoir the Canal and River Trust's predecessors built in 1786 to feed the Caldon Canal and enlarged to about 33 acres in 1840. The Stoke-on-Trent Angling Society manages fishing here and North Staffs Sailing Club has sailed the pool since 1961; the Trust's waterways licence explicitly excludes reservoirs, so paddling access rests on those clubs' own arrangements rather than a general canal licence.

Ash Tree Boat Club

Ash Tree Boat Club's slipway sits on the Trent and Mersey Canal between Armitage and Handsacre, on the canal's course toward Rugeley. The Canal and River Trust requires a waterways licence to paddle its canals and rivers, a requirement covered by a Paddle UK waterways membership.

Abbots Bromley put-in

This service-road slipway reaches Blithfield Reservoir, a 790-acre South Staffordshire Water supply reservoir west of Abbots Bromley, within the grounds of Blithfield Sailing Club. The RYA-recognised club runs stand-up paddleboarding alongside dinghy sailing, windsurfing and wing foiling. A near-identical slipway is mapped about 51 metres away, likely the same launch point recorded twice.

Sideway put-in (Stoke-on-Trent)

This slipway gives access to the Trent and Mersey Canal at Sideway on the southern edge of Stoke-on-Trent, close to the Hyde Park industrial estate and the Dolphin Boatyard. The Canal and River Trust manages the canal here and requires a paddling licence.

Etruria put-in (Stoke-on-Trent)