Wednesday 1st July 2020 - Day 1 (12.6 miles from Sudbury to Nayland)
We have 134 miles to paddle, the length of the River Thames, and that is roughly paddling the Stour six times which is only 24.2 miles long. We will be paddling the river in two or three part sections, allowing us to go home at night while abiding by the government lockdown rules.
The navigable section of the River Stour starts at Sudbury in Suffolk, which is the birthplace of Thomas Gainsborough, one of the greatest painters in British history. The Stour meanders along from Sudbury to Cattawade through the beautiful Dedham Vale known also as Constable country. Towards the end of the river is also the birthplace of another famous painter John Constable who was born and lived not far from the River Stour in East Bergholt. The main towns and villages that are on the river between Sudbury and Cattawade are Henny Street, Bures, Nayland, Higham, Stratford St Mary, Dedham and Cattawade.
Today was our first paddle out. We arrived in Sudbury around 9am and we were soon on our way having been dropped off by my kind daughter who is now our support crew. We were out on the river for most of the day and paddled gently with the flow of the river. It was good to be back on the water again and feel the sun on our faces with a paddle in our hands. The river is full of fish from little tiny tiddlers to a very large 14 pound Pike that a young lad on the river bank told us he had caught earlier this morning. I read that the river around Henny Street also holds Perch, Chub, Bream, Tench, Dace, Rudd and Roach.
There were plenty of birds around on and off the river including the several large herons that took off as we approached, one with a fish in its beak! A pair of shy king fishers flashing their turquoise blue at us as they flew ahead, always ahead. Moorhens and their chicks add some colour with their red and yellow beaks of the adult bird. The cuckoo was calling out several times and a crow was chasing off a large buzzard to the left of us. There were plenty of swans with their young cygnets; one pair had seven! Another single swan on its own had only one chick that came to feed with us opposite the Henny Swan pub and portage place around the beautiful weir there.
Teenagers were having a whale of a time in and out of the river around Bures and gave us a display of their jumping off the bridge skills into the river, what a wonderful playground this river is for them and all of us.
Today, we had four Weirs to get out at and portage the canoe around between Sudbury and Bures and there were another two between Bures and Nayland. Weirs are a wonderful place to be able to have a rest and enjoy the sound of water flowing fast over a weir, especially when the sun is out warming your back and there is soft grass to sit on.
To end our day, we paddled on to Nayland where we were picked up around 5pm by my daughter. We loaded up with the canoe on the roof and home we went, tired but very happy. Our first day on the river was wonderful.
Teresa Yonge and James Perkins are doing a 134-mile sponsored Paddle on the River Stour in East Anglia, for Mutemwa Leprosy Care Centre in Zimbabwe for water storage tanks. This is the first of their daily blogs, chronicling the journey. Read the introduction post here.
www.justgiving.com/campaign/
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