If I can gain legal access to a riverbank, can I pootle up and down the river if I'm not landing on any banks without the landowners permission? Presumably as the water is moving, the landowner can't claim to own the bit of water I'm floating on?
Yes you can use any river or lake for recreation.
Unless you're in England or Wales where they do "own" the water way and you'll be trespassing.
[url= http://go-paddle.co.uk/riveraccess.php ]River Access[/url]
You will still need permission from surrounding land owners.
Many rivers have restrictions on them, ones you can 'pootle about on' even more so as they will probably have fishing rights over other users. Sometimes there are also seasonal restrictions.
This is a whole heap of confuzzlement and mis-information type subject.
Canoeists/rowers etc argue 'who can own a river and the water as it flows through?' and 'what damage am I doing - minimal!'
Fishermen, who pay good money and landowners who like to control (paid) access to a river and thier land all object rather vehemently.
FWIW, I paddle anywhere I choose. People like the British Canoe Union and Scottish Canoe Association now do not believe in and will not sign 'voluntary' access agreements and firmly believe in the right to access responsibly, as land access in Scotland is.
Summary: go for it, enjoy it, but like cheeky singletrack have some awareness not everyone agrees.
Who ever the land owner is either side of the banks owns up to the middle of the river.
Pour a couple of gallons of water in to the river just as you get in then tell whoever starts that you brought your own water with you. See if the can prove that you're not paddling on it.
But no one owns the water it's the actual water channel that is owned.
I say go for it as in a few months it probably be chocked up with weed unless its deep or fast flowing. And the worst that can happen is you'll get arrested for aggravated trespass 😉
I think it would be better if you forgot you'd ever asked this question , , , , "ignorance is bliss", etc
After over 40 years as a canoeist, including serving on the BCU National Access Committee, the Environment Agency's Regional Advisory Committee for recreation and a Local Access Forum, I can categorically state that no-one knows what the law actually is
So treat the environment with respect, don't interfere with spawning fish, try to avoid anglers (especially competitions) . . . and just do it
Life's too short to wait for "the powers that be" to sort things out
Who ever the land owner is either side of the banks owns up to the middle of the river.
Not the case and there are now legal precedents for this. They have RIGHTS over the river bed, but not the water you are on.
Try ukriversguidebook for info on your specific river, if it's not on the list then ask in the forum.
Lots of rivers have no issues, some are hotspots. Been out of the loop for a while but I've had some interesting encounters with angry welsh men (Ogwyn) while paddling rivers.
Above
But no one owns the water it's the actual water channel that is owned.
The best thing to do is to check with the local authorities. It's also an added safety measures in case an accident happens.
Are the government's plans to let 'charities' manage the water ways going to change things?
I'd say just go for it. Be nice and polite. Put on your strongest oirish "Sure, jaysus, nobody told me I couldn't do dat". This approach has always worked for me in any situation*
*airports/train stations/the square mile in the eighties and nineties excepted 🙂
Lots of quoting of the usual legal position as quoted by anglers and landowners:
You will still need permission from surrounding land owners.
Who ever the land owner is either side of the banks owns up to the middle of the river.
However personally I'm now strongly of the opinion that that is wrong - the only proper recent legal research carried out on this by Rev. Caffyn concluded quite the opposite, that there is indeed a statutory right of passage on any navigable waterway due to ancient laws which haven't been repealed or superseded. In any case, as mentioned above, at worst it is only the same as cheeky riding, ie civil trespass, and a lot of canoeists now take the approach that the law is probably on their side and just paddle where they want. The only successful case won against a canoeist for trespass was almost 40 years ago, involved other factors, and is now generally seen to be pretty dodgy law - certainly I'm not aware of anybody even attempting to take a canoeist to court this century.
In conclusion, just get on and have fun.
as quoted by anglers and landowners:
Neither, got my info through work, Environment Agency.
The EA appear to take the anglers' perspective 99.9% of the time, so that's hardly surprising. At best the law on this is disupted and untested - even the land registry are no longer sure who owns the riverbed when different people own each bank.
ANGLERS!!! 👿 Pah don't get me started about anglers pay for a rod licence and they think they own the river.
As I've said go for it while you can. At worst your just going to get an irate land owner (and i've met plenty of them)
Over my many years of pootling about and always being respectful of others most other river users have been fine with us I've only come across a couple of folk who wouldn't let it lie, I always suggested they took my registration number and contacted the authorities, shame I kept forgetting to write it on the kayak 🙄