River Weaver - Tourism

Tourism

The Weaver is a river of contrasts, with quiet wooded reaches and heavily industrialised sites. Commercial shipping has largely ceased, but the ship-sized locks remain. For leisure boaters, most of the movable bridges provide a clearance of 8 feet (2.4 m), although the swing bridge at Newbridge, on the Vale Royal cut, only has headroom of 6.3 feet (1.9 m). Boats which require the bridges to be opened must give prior notice. There is a salt museum at Northwich, which was renamed as the Weaver Hall Museum and Workhouse in 2010, to reflect its expanding scope and the historic building in which it is housed, and a visitor centre at the Anderton lift, which is popular with boaters and non-boaters alike. There are, however, few facilities for the recreational boater.

Rowing is popular on the River Weaver, with competitive clubs in Runcorn, Northwich, and Acton Bridge (The Grange School). Fishing is another pastime which takes place along the river. Several clubs lease fishing rights for different parts of the river from British Waterways, as it holds populations of bream, three types of carp, chub, dace, eels, perch, pike, roach, rudd and tench. Fishing matches are regularly organised at weekends.

The lower reaches of the Weaver between Frodsham railway viaduct and the Manchester Ship Canal are used for sailing. The Weaver Sailing Club is based at Frodsham, and uses a 2.5-mile (4.0 km) stretch of the river for activities which include youth training and racing of several types of dinghy sailboats. Their training courses are accredited by the Royal Yachting Association.