Kayakers praise ‘brilliant’ River Great Ouse paddle trail

The Paddle UK team have been taking on the challenge to paddle as many inland waterways as possible.

These include peaceful canals to winding rivers across the UK and can all be found on the PaddlePoints website.

Craig Duff, Head of PaddlePoints, said: “Paddlers share all of these amazing trails on the PaddlePoints website and it’s great that we get to check them out.

“The River Great Ouse was a pleasant surprise. There’s so much history along the way and it was uplifting to see so much wildlife.

“We had a perfect day and we highly recommend others to try the trail.”

The team, including James Ibbotson, a retired freestyle kayaker, began their day at the historic Houghton Mill, close to the River Great Ouse, near Huntingdon, in Cambridgeshire.

The National Trust site has free parking if you're a member of the organisation – for everyone else it's only £3 for three hours (maximum stay).

Houghton Mill has toilets, a cafe, and a campsite, with camping pods, which is ideal as a base for exploring the Great River Ouse.

There's also mobility parking and an accessible toilet.

The start point is located in the basin near the mill.

The concrete slipway is a little uneven in places, but adequate to launch from.

The National Trust welcomes paddlers, but urges common sense, particularly when the mill's water wheel is in use.

Paddling away from the mill we took a left up a tributary towards the Great River Ouse, passing the Trout Stream weir.

The magnificent St James' Church is the highlight, along the trail, it was bathed in sunlight with its image reflecting in the water.

The team paddled for another 350m until they reached Hemingford Lock, which is maintained by the Environment Agency.

There are signs here reminding everyone of the need for a waterways licence or risk a fine.

After getting out to get around the lock, the Paddle UK team continued for about 2km towards St Ives, spotting red kites overhead, herons, Egyptian geese, grebes, swans and ducks.

At St Ives, they paddled back towards the start point with Holt Island Nature Reserve to the left and more of the town to the right.

There are various portage points in St Ives to get out and visit the free to enter Norris Museum, All Saints Parish Church, and the pubs and cafes.

Back on the Great Ouse, the team headed back to Houghton Mill for a coffee and some delicious hot food in the National Trust cafe.

The National Trust do a fascinating tour of the mill, which dates back to the 18th-century.

The tour, which is only available between March and October, is £8 for adults and £4 for children.

A waterways licence required to paddle the River Great Ouse. Find out more.