We had seen various posts about Allington Lock and we had a rare kid free day we took full advantage and headed straight here after the school run, I have decided to put a few blog posts together with the various what three word locations etc. Louise (my wife) first got me into paddle boarding we picked up one board from Lidl £199 and literally had everything including a dry bag to get you going, it wasn’t long till we headed back and picked up another one here is some more information on our board while a basic board we can not fault it at all and have been more than impressed especially the kayak seat and additional paddle.
https://www.paddleup.co.uk/blog/lidl-mistral-inflatable-stand-up-paddle-board-review?format=amp
Getting back to Allington to get to the lock keeper you need to follow what three words location https://w3w.co/belt.etchings.mouth this will take you to the lock keepers window when you get near the road looks a little narrow but just keep going ahead and your get there
Once there park up and head to the window
If you have a river licence you just need to pay for parking and then have access to the slip if like us you don’t have a river licence you fill out a form and for £7 your get a day licence and parking and access to shower and toilet for the day.
The car park is gravel but the slip way is concrete so we set up and headed in or in my case literally slipped in (school boy error) slip way what three words is https://w3w.co/belonged.cardinal.joys
Once in the water head right and we went two miles up and stopped at the boat house cafe where you can paddle up and place your tea/coffee order. It is just under the bridge the what three words is https://w3w.co/parade.straw.focus
After our coffee stop we headed back and it was a lovely paddle very peaceful and hardly anyone else on the water but those we did see were all friendly and said hello. The Maidstone parkrun route that I have done many times runs along the river it was fantastic to get a different perspective of it
I recorded the paddle on strava and it works out approx 4 miles to the boat cafe and back for us the is the furthest we have gone to date but we are so happy to have found something we both love to do as a couple which is relaxing and enjoyable as well as being active (I tried to get Louise into running many times without success lol)
Once back at the Lock we had another coffee and a scone this time another lovely little spot
We had a chat to the lock keeper afterwards and asked about the glamping huts he said there closed this year but hope to be open next year the last time they were open it was £40 a night let’s hope the prices remain the same we’re definitely be back and would love to stay the night here
All in all we had a great day and would highly recommend it for £14 including licence for the day and parking for the both of us we didn’t think that was too bad hope to see you on the next adventure
ianprunning 