Hertford Castle Weir

Access

Angling

Weir setup

• A vertical 70 cm drop onto a second 30 cm concrete block, situated in a stilling pool. The stilling pool overflows into a tunnel which leads under the road. The 70 cm drop has two electric gates which move vertically in high flows.
• 5 padlocked sluice gates. Rarely used, as these are manually controlled by British Waterways.
• Stepped drop for high flows.

  Whitewater use

• Main drop - Can be run straight or sideways.
• Main drop sluice - Creates a jet which can tail squirts can be performed on. At high flows it makes the weir harder to paddle in, and can cause pinning in the stopper, river right.
• Stilling pool drop - Side-surfing is possible at most flows. Cartwheeling is possible when the pool level raises. Normally about 70 cm deep.
• Side sluice - A wave and stopper forms here, depending on weir pool levels and amount of water coming through the sluice. This water has been constricted by kayakers using concrete blocks to form different features. It can vary from 30–50 cm high wave which can be carved in front-surf, to a shallow retentive pour-over, which is side-surf able.
• Stepped drop - Can be run when river is in spate, very likely to do damage to the weir or your boat when the water flowing over it is less than 3 cm in depth. A small wave and stopper forms at the bottom which can be played on, however, it is very shallow.