Moorings on the Tees Navigation

The River Tees rises on Cross Fell in the Pennines and runs 137 kilometres east through Barnard Castle, Darlington, Yarm and Stockton to reach the North Sea at Teesmouth. The navigable Tees Navigation covers the tidal and lower river, with commercial shipping managed by PD Ports as the statutory harbour authority for the Tees and the Environment Agency responsible for the freshwater reaches above.

The Tees Barrage, opened in 1995 upstream of Stockton, transformed the river for leisure boating. It holds the water above it at a constant non-tidal level, creating a permanently navigable, sheltered stretch running up through Stockton and Thornaby towards Yarm — clean, deep and free of the tidal mudbanks that once made the upper river impractical. A boat lock in the barrage gives access to and from the tidal river below.

Long-stay moorings are concentrated above the barrage at Castlegate Quay and the Stockton and Thornaby marinas, with coastal and estuarine berths available at Hartlepool Marina a short passage north. The river is not connected to the inland canal network, so boats here are coastal or river craft rather than narrowboats. Access is excellent, with the A19, A66 and Darlington and Middlesbrough stations all close.