The Tees Barrage International White Water Course, originally the Teesside White Water Course, is an

artificial whitewater An artificial whitewater course (AWWC) is a site for whitewater canoeing, whitewater kayaking, whitewater racing, whitewater rafting, playboating and slalom canoeing with artificially generated rapids. Course types Main types of course: Fl ...

course on the north bank of the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has be ...

, in

northern England Northern England, also known as the North of England, the North Country, or simply the North, is the northern area of England. It broadly corresponds to the former borders of Angle Northumbria, the Anglo-Scandinavian Kingdom of Jorvik, and the ...

. It is part of the Tees Barrage and is located in the

Stockton-on-Tees Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...

district, accessible by road only from

Thornaby-on-Tees Thornaby-on-Tees, commonly referred to as Thornaby, is a town and civil parish on the River Tees's southern bank. It is in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The parish had a population of 24,741 at the 2011 census, in t ...

and best accessed by the A66. The course was built in 1995 at a cost of £2 million. The course is now open once more under the new name TBIWWC (Tees Barrage International White Water Centre).

Facilities

The course is owned by the Canal & River Trust but administered by Tees Active from the on-site watersports centre. The white water facility offers

kayak A kayak is a small, narrow watercraft which is typically propelled by means of a double-bladed paddle. The word kayak originates from the Greenlandic word ''qajaq'' (). The traditional kayak has a covered deck and one or more cockpits, each se ...

ing, whitewater slalom,

playboating Canoe freestyle (also known as playboating) is a discipline of whitewater kayaking or canoeing where people perform various technical moves in one place (a playspot), as opposed to downriver whitewater canoeing or kayaking where the objective is ...

and white water rafting plus

surfing Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

on the 'surf wave'. The centre's facilities include a high ropes course, a placid practice pool; watersports centre, shop and cafe; car parking, camping, picnicking and caravanning areas; bandstand and landscaped

amphitheatre An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

, ''The Talpore'' pub, a restaurant and hotel. The course itself is a 'U' shaped loop, 250 m long, 7 m wide with a 3.7 m drop and a flow of 14

cumec A cubic metre per second (m3s−1, m3/s, cumecs or cubic meter per second in American English) is the unit of volumetric flow rate in the International System of Units (SI) equal to that of a stere or cube with sides of in length exchanged or mo ...

s (m³/s). The immediate environs of the white water course include the

Teesdale Way The Teesdale Way is a long-distance walk between the Cumbrian Pennines and the North Sea coast of North Yorkshire in England. The walk is in length; it links in with other long-distance walks such as the Pennine Way and the European walking ro ...

cycle path ( National Cycle Network), the

, the Tees Barrage and the placid grade A two star waters of the river Tees; the David Lloyd Leisure racquet centre, a superstore and

Portrack Marsh Nature Reserve Portrack Marsh Nature Reserve is a reserve by the northern bank of the River Tees between the Tees Barrage and the Tees Viaduct, near Portrack housing estate in Stockton-on-Tees borough, County Durham. It is the last remaining wetland on the ...

Operation

The state of the course can depend on the level of the tide in the

. The course can operate by flow diversion for two or three hours either side of low tide but can operate at any time when the pumps are used. The course can operate all year round and in hours of darkness when it is flood-lit, and spot-lit on the two footbridges.

Photo gallery (2008)

Image:Tees_Whitewater_Centre-1024.jpg , Tees Barrage White Water Course Centre and practice/warm up pool Image:tees_white_water-1.jpg , Happy Eater pool Image:tees_white_water-2.jpg , Rapids in front of the bandstand Image:tees_white_water-3.jpg , Cruncher pool Image:tees_white_water-5.jpg , Valentines pool Image:tees_white_water-6.jpg , Pedestrian bridge and final rapids Image:tees_white_water-8.jpg , Lower settling pool Image:tees_white_water-4.jpg , One of the many public interpretation and information boards around the course.

Redevelopment

In 2010 and 2011, a £4.6 million redevelopment of the course was undertaken. The changes include the addition of a new shorter, steeper course and a canoe lift with disabled paddlers in mind. Four large 12 m long 3 m diameter

Archimedes' screw The Archimedes screw, also known as the Archimedean screw, hydrodynamic screw, water screw or Egyptian screw, is one of the earliest hydraulic machines. Using Archimedes screws as water pumps (Archimedes screw pump (ASP) or screw pump) dates back ...

s were installed to pump water from the bottom pool to the top pool guaranteeing water levels for paddlers at all states of the

tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravity, gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide t ...

. There are plans to generate electricity from the head of river water above the barrage by putting the Archimedes' screws into reverse when not pumping water around the course, making the course more energy efficient. These improvements made the site a world class training facility which is proposed as a training camp location for the

2012 Olympic games The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. Work started in March 2010 and was completed in October 2011. Her Majesty

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

, accompanied by His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, visited Stockton on 18 July 2012 to officially reopen the International White Water Course as part of their Diamond Jubilee tour of the United Kingdom.

Popular culture

The TBIWWC was used in a segment of the film ''

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

''. In the scene, the actor George MacKay jumps into a river in France and is flung over rapids and a waterfall. These scenes were filmed at the course. An episode of ''Emmerdale'' was filmed at the TBIWWC where the character Victoria Sugden fell down a waterfall.

Note

The Tees Barrage International White Water Course is not to be confused with The River Tees Watersports Centre, Dugdale Street, Stockton-on-Tees 1 km further upriver on the same side near the

Princess of Wales Bridge The Princess of Wales Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Diana Bridge or the Princess Diana Bridge, is a dual carriageway road bridge named after the late Diana, Princess of Wales. It carries Council of Europe Boulevard across the River Te ...

or indeed the Castlegate Quay Water Sports Centre a little further up-river near

Teesquay Millennium Bridge Teesquay Millennium Footbridge is a footbridge crossing east-west over the River Tees between Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton high street and Thornaby (Teesdale Business Park) in Northern England. It is just east of Stockton town centre and in the t ...

References

List of artificial whitewater courses The first whitewater slalom race took place on the Aar River in Switzerland in 1933. The early slalom courses were all set in natural rivers, but when whitewater slalom became an Olympic sport for the first time, at the 1972 Munich Games, the ven ...

Tees Newport Bridge The Tees Newport Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge spanning the River Tees a short distance upriver from Tees Transporter Bridge, linking Middlesbrough with the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, Northern England. It no longer lifts, but still acts a ...

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Portrack Portrack is an east Stockton-on-Tees, Stockton area in the borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. It is close to Billingham opposite Thornaby and just west of Middlesbrough. The area is a large industrial and business part of Stock ...

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Teesdale Business Park Teesdale Business Park is a major business park on the former site of Head Wrightsons' Teesdale works in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. The park was redeveloped by the Teesside Development Corporation. The area is immediately nor ...

, Centre = Tees Barrage International
White Water Course , East =

Maze Park Nature Reserve Maze Park is a urban nature reserve in Middlesbrough, England on the south bank of the Tees on part of the former Tees Marshalling Yard. It was created by the Teesside Development Corporation and is owned and run by the Tees Valley Wildlife T ...

Tees Viaduct The A19 Tees Viaduct or Tees Flyover is a high level six-lane dual carriageway road bridge in the North East of England carrying the main A19 trunk road north–south across the River Tees. The bridge is located between Middlesbrough and ...

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Teesside Park Teesside Park is a retail and leisure park in Thornaby-on-Tees, built in 1988. Located just off the A66 near the A66/ A19 interchange, it is split between the unitary authorities of Stockton-on-Tees (retail park) and Middlesbrough (leisure p ...

{{UK Artificial White Water Courses {{Canoeing and kayaking {{stockton Sports venues in County Durham Artificial whitewater courses in the United Kingdom Sport in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees River Tees