Canoeing at Dernford
Canoeing and Kayaking need a Permit holding leader at the Dernford Nook campsite.
If you don't have your own permitted leader(s), we keep a list of nearby leaders who are prepared to come run a session with your young people in return for a small fee.
Equipment available for canoeing and kayaking:
Equipment available for rafting:
Our main lake, Dernmere, has a jetty and a beach entry where the water is just a foot deep, and goes out to about 8ft, 2.5m deep, in the middle. The water is from a series of chalk springs and is crystal clear to the bottom, but remains at 10-12°C. One third is demarked safe for kayaking, canoeing, rafting and swimming (which is planned expand to two-thirds) and the final third is demarked no-go to save it for wildlife. This is Class C water as it is still with little flow and less than 100m in width or length.
There are plans to set up rinsing showers on the ourside wall of the toilet block but currently there are no showers available at Dernford.
We have a suitable risk assessment for Kayaking
If you would like to arrange a permit holder from our list to assist you the fee is £15 per hour on the water which we forward in total to them. You will need to marshall your young people into bouyancy aids, help get out the kayaks and so on. [an error occurred while processing this directive]