How to get there - Nearest point by car is St Peter's Church car park, Church Lane Upper Beeding.
For those with SatNav the postcode is BN44 3HP.
Get a map with driving directions to start (enter the postcode of your starting point at A)
Suggested Launch Site - Portage down steps and a short distance across field to the river where there is a small 'beach' on the bend. This is ideal at high tide but a little muddy otherwise.
General
Description - I launched at 16.05, one hour after high tide at Shoreham by Sea (6.3m at 15.05). Don't be fooled by the movement of the water on the bend; the eddies are deceptive.
Paddling North against a warm WNW breeze, it was 17.45 before the tide fully turned, and I had passed a footbridge near Ashurst (the fourth bridge on the trip). In the company of herons, swans, buzzards and damsel flies, it took only an hour to retrace the route to Upper Beeding with the wind behind me.
A good alternative would be to launch an hour earlier and paddle to Mock Bridge on the A281 (car park at the Bull pub just South of the Bridge), or reverse this trip on a falling tide.
Comments on this trip
Martin 10 Aug 2020
I reversed this trip putting in at Bines Bridge just S of Partridge Green. I did the top 2 reaches and they are for purists only this time of year very overgrown, stagnant and eventually blocked by reeds.There is a small weir just before the Adur Junction which is probably best crossed by wading. A much larger one on the Henfield section with steps downstream but nothing on the other side so wading required.Not sure how the tides work I arrived South of the Upper Beeding bridge at 1355 where there is a reasonable takeout point on the East bank by an outlet which is a very short walk to the pub and the petrol station which also has a Subway and Budgens. The tide was coming in very fast indeed by now (high tide at Shoreham was 1518) so I didn't hang about and was making speeds of 5mph all the way back to Bines Bridge, the weir was quite full by now so a sporting slight drop down to the final section. The access point is quite steep but an easy walks from the layby and pull over a stile onto the footpath.Not the most scenic section of this river but the various road , foot and Downs Link crossings add interest, highly recommended!
Joe 25 Jul 2016
Many thanks. Good route and stopped for an ale at the bull before returning. Only downside was some seriously vicious swans protecting young!
