News

November 2008

A very successful Avon Descent this month, with record water levels. I've added a new "race reports" link to the results section of the Avon Descent page. If you know of any more links (or if anyone from Mercia would like to contribute an article giving their perspective on the event!), let me know.

A club trip to Matlock went ahead despite freezing temperatures (the various cars disagreed about the exact outside temperature, but the range was between 0 and 2C!). Your webmaster pointed out (repeatedly) to anyone who would listen that he could have been at home watching telly and drinking tea.

Bizarrely, the cold weather attracted Kyle (who normally refuses to paddle anything more sedate than grade 3, and then only if the temperature is higher than 7C), John "Chipper" Oakley, a man who hasn't been seen at the club since he discovered kite surfing, and former member Tim Spencer. I can only suppose there has been some kind of rift in the space-time continuum.

The token young person role was filled by Liam, who could hardly move without bumping into people eager to instruct him. Having discovered the warming power of pogies, he was reluctant to remove his hands from them, even when we got off the water. The only slight drawback to this was that they were still attached to his paddles...

I've added a few pictures to the gallery.

Nigel Perry

September 2008

Despite wild weather forecasts and torrential rain on the Friday, Mercia set up camp on the Gower peninsular and enjoyed some reasonable surf, good company and even some sun whilst the Midlands was drenched. A change from Croyde the beach was massive and quiet enough that you could find a spot to surf without fear of running over people. We even dragged Andy and a couple of mates out.

Late September and with summer setting in we paddled at Stratford in the sun. Bob led a group over the two weirs and we had plenty of beginners shooting their first weir, forwards and backwards. Marion also took to hugging a rock on the second weir.

Nigel Wooltorton

August 2008

One Saturday afternoon, three of us saw an unexplained sighting of a possible baptism, just round the corner from Priestley Bridge. People in white were standing in the canal beside the bank, with others on the towpath singing. I later saw a sign off Lady Lane, Longford which referred to Baptism in the Canal at that point in the late 18th century.

Nigel Wooltorton

July 2008

A busy day ahead on Saturday 19th with three sessions being organized. This will be followed by summer open sessions beginning July 21st, 28th and August 4th. Email us for information.

Only four large cygnets now and the parents don’t like Mike in the white K1.

Nigel Wooltorton

June 2008

The club camping trip to Bala was dented by the release on the Tryweryn being stopped on Saturday because there was too much rain about! We went to the seaside at Barmouth instead and climbed the hills at the back. This was followed by a paddle on a tidal river, see the pictures. The event tent was put to good use and Rachel refused to use the new club Karaoke machine. Sunday was wet in the morning and with the midges biting we paddled the lower section. Simon paddled well, with just one dip. More pictures are on the site (Well, they will be, once I've fixed the broken gallery - NJP!). Mike and Nigel also did the top section where despite 14 rafts it was otherwise surprisingly quiet.

Nigel Wooltorton

May 2008

Six cygnets on the water but apart from Luke, all is peace and calm.

No one went to the Alps. We must have known something, with poor weather and popular rivers closed due to extensive flooding.

We did go to Upton Warren instead for the West Midlands paddlers day. Held on a large lake, Damo and Luke both passed the new two star tests. Damo forgot when asked about the trips he had been on, apart from the Pool? He had to be prompted! Rachel passed her one star and Mike’s daughter took part in the Paddlesport test. Simon and Sarah were out in Canadians. The rest of us drank tea and eventually got on a bell boat.

Nigel Wooltorton

April 2008

Mid April, we headed of to Dolgellau in mid Wales. The accommodation was in the style of a stable block with the stalls fitted out with bunk beds. It was warm and comfy and did the job at a reasonable price. The single kitchen unit was overwhelmed by loud US forces on Friday night. Come Saturday they were all in bed for 9 p.m.! Nigel remembered the eggs this time and a full cooked breakfast with boiled eggs for lunch was a great start.

There was plenty of snow on the mountain tops to be seen the next morning but the day was fine with good views. A strong cold wind meant that gloves and hats were in order on the hills. Tanygrisiau was our starting point for a yomp up and down the hill tops. We were congratulating ourselves on reaching a minor summit when 90 fell runners careered over the top and down the other side in shorts and running shoes. They were taking part in the annual Molwyn race and we spent the next hour watching them go up and down the hills. Afterwards we located John Whitehead's eco bed and breakfast place and enjoyed a tour and look at the solar tubes. John was a keen member of the club for a few years. The cake and tea was well received and we got to see the steam train.

Nigel Wooltorton

March 2008

UXB closes club!

Well it’s different to illness closes club. Tried to get to the club at 5 pm tonight and Police were everywhere, evacuating the flats. Tried a few routes but gave up in the end and cycled home! UXB incendiary device found at the back of the Belgrade this afternoon.

Nigel Wooltorton - 12/03/2008

February 2008

Paddlers survive the mighty gorge

Ed, Mike and Nigel spent a couple of hours on the Severn at Ironbridge 24-02-2008. The road is now open after a year of closure to complete subsidence work. The Telford canoe club access is not usable because of the major works still being completed. We found a small layby and launched just below the new bridge. Meanwhile the Severn continues to eat away at the river bank with noticeable erosion all along and even a missing house, that split in two, according to local paddlers. Ed couldn’t wait to get wet and was up to his waist while attempting to launch – see pictures. We went up to the old bridge and then back to Jackfield. The river was high but the rapid was not washed out and held some pretty decent waves, a couple of which were surfable and produced some pop outs. Ed managed a swim down the rapid and was rescued by Mike with the help of the locals, whilst I merrily surfed away. The last trip to Ironbridge was with Chipper!

Nigel Wooltorton

January 2008

River Usk

The 20th of January and 10 of us were on the Usk near Brecon, on another mild but dry day. The river was also high and running red with sediment. At Llangynidr bridge on the race course there wasn't a rock to be seen. The original plan had been to paddle this section as well but time was against us. We found the official access point at Sennybridge, although Bob never noticed the sentries guarding the army barracks. On the river as well as numerous moderate rapids, there were three ledges of increasing difficulty. The first got Simon. The second had a shoot on the far left to avoid the long towback. Nigel had some down time on a play wave just before the bigger drop. Here we chose a tight rocky line down the right to avoid the towback in the centre or the boof on the left. One river coming in from the left, possibly the Cilieni was in spate and provided a good play spot. Jo got pinned on a tree when she followed Mike and Kyle down an alternative route, on the right just before Aberbran bridge. Kyle was seen using a rope! There were plenty of waves and stoppers, a cracking level. The get out we used was at Brecon just before the weir. The other group on the river chose this point to practise rope rescues, taking turns as swimmers. There wasn't much enthusiasm for this from our lot at the end of a good days paddle!

Pictures here.

Nigel Wooltorton

River Banwy

Sunday 13th January saw eight of us heading for Mid Wales and the Banwy. This was a wide but shallow river which although high wasn't flooded in the trees. The top section from Llanerfyl to the steam train station at Llanfair Caereinion proved to be the best, with a chance to practice breakouts and ferry glides. It was ideal for the group and a new river always has the novelty of working out what is round the corner. In this case it was a massive tree blocking the river right channel, which required a sneaky shoot through the island to avoid. One swimmer and a couple of wobbles. The lower section which Mike, Jo and myself did because it was there, was mainly fast and flat with a couple of weir sections pushing up the grade a bit. We stopped and spoke to a chap on the bank who was concerned about some more large trees that were wrapped around a bridge just before the river joined the Vrynwy and took us to the get out.

Pictures here.

Nigel Wooltorton

December 2007

Ice stops paddlers in the first freeze of the winter

Mike and myself were stopped by ice tonight, before the new bridge at Electric Wharf. It was only thin but enough to make us turn round. It wouldn’t have been a problem in a plastic boat.

I collected certificates from the Canal Society Christmas Party on Saturday, for the Mikes, Sarah and myself in recognition of paddling the 38 miles, with 13 portages on the Coventry Canal in 2007.

There has been a delay in ordering the two new Supersonics and neoprene decks, whilst the Council issue us with an amended grant acceptance form. Hopefully the funds will now go through.

Nigel Wooltorton - 12/12/2007

Mercia team completes Coventry Canal challenge. Or do they...?

The team of two Mikes, Sarah and Nigel overcame a major hurdle in order to complete the fourth and last leg of their epic paddle from Coventry to Fradley, covering the full 38 mile length of the Coventry Canal. The weather got us last time out but this time it was the dreaded ‘dewatering’, a fiendish attempt by British Waterways to test our resolve. Having paddled half way from Hopwas to Fradley, we approached the Lichfield cruising club at Huddlesford, to find 1/8th of a mile section with no water. We tried various routes to get round it but in the end had to walk down the road and were lucky to be able to launch around the corner. We paddled back as far as we could and if anyone wants to debate whether or not we have completed our challenge, they are welcome to buy me a beer and discuss the technical merits. On average we paddled just 5 miles per month but that was more to do with completing the last 8.5 mile leg in December, having started the first in April. For those interested the bridge numbering system started again where it had left off and finished at around 91A.

(Personally, I think this lacuna makes the challenge null and void and they should try again next year! - NJP)

Nigel Wooltorton - 07/12/2007

Canoeing is not a crime!

In England and Wales, canoeists have no recognized legal right to enjoy rivers or lakes. River access agreements don't work, and the only prospect for improvement lies in legislation.

You can read more about the problem on the Canoeing is not a crime website. More importantly, you can sign the WCA's petition. It doesn't matter whether you live or indeed paddle in Wales or not. It will take about 30 seconds to complete.

The Government of Wales Act (2006) requires the Assembly to act on petitions received if an issue falls within their powers, so this petition can make a difference if enough people sign. It worked in Scotland with the Land Reform Act, so there is no reason it can't work in Wales.

Success in Wales would bring canoeing there in line with Scotland, and would increase pressure to introduce similar legislation in England. So get signing!

Nigel Perry - 01/12/2007

November 2007

Avon Descent Photos online

Pictures here. Sorry for the delay (and for the less than optimal ordering)...

Nigel Perry - 29/11/2007

A Bridge too Far

Ball’s Bridge, 29.5 miles from the basin proved a tough challenge on a wet and very cold Sunday in November. With temperatures hovering between 3-4 Celcius, it was the day that it later snowed in the City.

The Bridge numbering system stops at around Bridge 76, when the Coventry Canal merges with the Birmingham and Fazeley Canal, the other side of Tamworth. This was the third section of our complete paddle of the Coventry Canal, a distance of around 10 miles, which took a leisurely two hours twenty minutes.

I am sure some of the countryside was quite pleasant but I wasn’t in the mood to enjoy it. After the two lock portage in Tamworth, I needed to slurp coffee, put another layer on and speed up in order to generate enough warmth. Perhaps we had raised our expectations too much but the Aqueduct over the river Tame was rather a disappointment and certainly nothing to compare with the Langollen Canal at Trevor, where it soars over the Dee.

Some pictures at the start are included. It still looks cold. (It must have been grim if this was as good as it got - NJP).

Nigel Wooltorton - 24/11/2007

Avon Descent 2007 results now online

Results from the 2007 event are now available for download. I will be uploading some photographs in due course.

Nigel Perry - 16/11/2007

Grant Success

On Saturday we received confirmation that we had been awarded a grant from Coventry City Council for the purchase of 2 Perception Supersonics and neoprene decks. These boats are popular with paddlers as the two we already have are keenly fought over!

Annual club meal

We have started to think about the pre-Christmas meal for the club. Possibly to be held on December 14 or 15th but to be confirmed.

Regional Coach Update Session

Mike and Nigel spent their Sunday at the Regional Coach update session, run at Upton Warren. Speakers included Lara Tipper from the BCU, who gave an overview of the changes and benefits arising from the new Paddlepower scheme, Star Tests and UKCC level 1-3 coaching awards and modules. Andy Green briefly spoke in his role as the Access man for the BCU. We had a session with Stuart Briggs, who devised the new Paddlepower scheme. He introduced the 24 themes from warm up and nutrition, to going sideways and turning, which are all included at different levels of understanding and skill.

In the afternoon we tried the Cross Stream challenge which involves the use of gates on the water, or we could use our buoys, again to develop different focused skills, at different levels of ability.

We also found out how to carry an open canoe, ( a carbon / kevlar one at that) on a Porche, using the factory roof rack accessory!

It was cold and foggy too!

Nigel Wooltorton - 04/11/2007

October 2007

Grant Application

I have just completed the application for the City Council, Small Sports Grants funding. This is up to a maximum of £1000. The 13 page form was not as much trouble to complete as collating the other documents, covering areas such as Safety Policy and Child Protection. You will no doubt have forgotten that we agreed to adopt these BCU model policies at our General Meeting back in January 2007. Anyway, based on their current popularity at the club, I have applied for two more Perception Supersonics and neoprene decks. The process takes around 8 weeks so you will have to wait I am afraid. If you have any thoughts on other gear we need then get in touch.

Nigel Wooltorton - 07/10/2007

Rogue Traders

The Committee are on the look out for two cowboy plumbers seen ‘working’ at the club trying to repair the leaking cistern. There was a sharp intake of breath and they gave the address of a local caravan park, when questioned about who was responsible for the leak. A solution to the drip, which was getting worse, will hopefully be found soon.

Locker Troubles

A new training course on the use of lockers may well need to be run, using the benefit of Mike’s wealth of experience. One of the key lessons appears to be to keep your key out of the locker when applying the padlock.

Nigel Wooltorton - 06/10/2007

Flatwater training

On Wednesday, Simon and Damien got out of their short boats and joined in for a steady 2.5 mile paddle in the open cockpit tourer and Lightening. They found that they had plenty to learn. If you are interested meet at 5.30 p.m. at the club for an hour on a Wednesday. With all the new buildings going up on the left hand bank, past Electric wharf, the canal should be well illuminated in the evenings.

Nigel Wooltorton - 03/10/2007

September 2007

Club camera makes debut trip to Stratford

Having taken numerous successful photos of Nigel’s spraydeck at the Basin, it was time to take our new camera on a trip. Accompanied by eight paddlers, the camera was secured and headed for the weir. The main weir had a small but sticky stopper with just a couple of spots to escape the clutches. An early casualty was a young slalom paddler from another club, who despite hanging on to the bow of another boat, just could not get out. Your Chairman got out of his boat and saved the day from the wall, by giving the bow of the boat a gentle nudge from his foot. Once he knew how to get out, Alistair soon found that he could relax in the stopper. Later, Nigel struggled to stay in the stopper when paddling the Blaze.

We shot the second drop a couple of times. Gary went for a dip whilst playing below the drop. We also set up a synchronised seal launch in to the lock cut. Robert managed a swim at some point. We need a neoprene case to protect the camera from bumps etc but overall I was impressed. It was light, waterproof, with a clear screen and with sufficient memory to film several minutes of paddling, from various angles. Nigel intends to extract the still frame shots from this.

[He has. The first results can be seen in the photo gallery. Note that these are all still frames extracted from the movies, so the resolution is much lower than normal photos. The advantage is the ability to capture the exact moment you want. I expect later attempts to make more varied use of the camera's modes! I'll upload some movie clips later - NJP 09/09/2007]

Nigel Wooltorton - 30/09/2007

Trip to Stratford this Sunday (30th)

Meet at the club 9:00. Bring some food and drink, money for fuel (if sharing a lift) and parking, and suitable clothing. If you have a roofrack for your car, bring that too!

A reminder to club members that your help will be appreciated at this year's Avon Descent race, so try to keep Sunday November 11th free in your diaries!

Nigel Perry - 29/09/2007

Croyde trip deemed great success. Not many photos

12 people turned out for this year's Croyde Bay surfing trip, and were rewarded with fine weather and modest but very enjoyable surf conditions on Friday and Saturday.

There was no surf on Sunday, resulting in the early departure of Bob, Ryan and Kyle, while myself, Nigel W and Will paddled around the coast for a spot of gentle rock hopping (quite unlike one of my earlier attempts, as documented in this thread (look for "When Good Rocks go Bad" within Mark's main post!), and cave exploration, leaving the rest of the party to play in the sea on bodyboards.

I doubt a full trip report is justifed (and I am in any case far too lazy), but I've uploaded a few campsite photos. Once again, we have no pictures on the water, but this problem should be addressed now that we have decided to purchase a waterproof digital camera for the club!

Finally, a reminder. If you are a member of Mercia Canoe Club, this is your website, and your contributions (whether in the form of photographs, or articles, or suggestions for improvements) are welcomed. I am quite happy to edit articles into a form suitable for web publication (all I need are your words, in digital form), and to process images prior to upload. But I cannot provide all the content on my own!

Nigel Perry - 16/09/2007

Mercia paddlers in Canal rescue drama

I am often accused of never rescuing anyone. This is a disgraceful and opprobrious calumny, particularly as I am frequently not in a position to help as I am myself the one being rescued. I can now lay this accusation firmly to rest:

This evening, myself and Will were pottering along the canal in small plastic boats when we heard a loud splash, which I naturally assumed to mark the entry into the water of a giant rat, or some equally unsavoury example of the Coventry fauna. The attendant cursing, however, suggested that this was not the case, and closer inspection revealed the presence of a fine specimen of Homo Chavus, complete with mountain bike. I suspect he was momentarily distracted by Will's display of "playboating skillz", and mistook the reeds for the towpath.

Remembering our safety training, we approached cautiously, ready to batter him with our paddles if he showed the slightest signs of panicking. We then assisted him out of the water by disentangling him from his bike and allowing him to step onto our boats.

Let it never again be said that I don't rescue people.

Nigel Perry - 05/09/2007

Crack team of Mercia paddlers conquer another section of the Coventry Canal!

In their epic mission to paddle the entire length of the Coventry Canal (from the City to Fradley Junction, near Lichfield), the team of Mike, Sarah and Nigel have now completed the second stage and reached the half way point.

Gypsy Lane, just before bridge 18, to Bradley Green, bridge 38, was the plan. This took us through Nuneaton and out the other side of Atherstone. What we hadn't worked out beforehand was that, according to our guide, this section of around 10 miles had 11 of the 13 locks on the Coventry Canal. It took a leisurely two and a half hours to cover the distance. We paddled and then walked most of the Atherstone flight, as the gaps between locks were generally too short to warrant launching and then getting out for the portage. A good idea would have been to take the portage trolley to take most of the weight of the plastic tourers. We put it in the car but Sarah thought it was heavy and the end result was that it stayed in the car. Regrets were expressed.

After the sign for narrow boats "Slow Canoes", which we took literally, we met a couple of paddlers from Anker Valley club on the water. This club is based near Hartshill Country Park. We also spotted one of the quarries that were on the recently produced leaflet, describing a marked walk in this area retracing the history of the local quarries. This section was more pleasant than the first, being mainly in the countryside with a few canal boats pottering along. The finish came quicker than expected, as it was just half a mile from the last lock. We were lucky to get a parking space by the bridge and right beside the canal, so there was no chance of missing the get out.

Nigel Wooltorton - 02/09/2007

Surf Trip

Apparently there's some kind of surf-kayaking trip to Croyde again this month. Details should be on the events calendar, if I've got around to it. As ever, Luke is the man, so make sure you pay him for your pitch if you are going!

Nigel Perry - 01/09/2007

Website Launched!

Clearly the most important piece of news at the moment is that finally, after much procrastination by your esteemed webmaster and club treasurer, we have a website!

I have thrown this together rather hurriedly, and there are some technical aspects I'm not happy with at present (but only the uber-geeks amongst you will object to the use of deprecated HTML tags, I'm sure!). But it's a start, and I expect it to evolve. The most important thing for now is to make sure the site gets some compelling content, and is kept updated. That will only happen with the help of club members. There is nothing more tragic than a website that hasn't been updated since 2003. Actually, that's a lie. There are thousands of things more tragic than that. But nevertheless I make a very valid point.

Eventually you should be able to contribute some content directly to the website, but for now everything has to go through me. So if you have anything you want added (e.g articles, events or photographs), or just wish to comment on or suggest improvements to the website, let me know. You can do this either in person or by emailing me (see the "Contact us" page).

I've noticed the "Contact us" page does not render correctly in Internet Explorer 7 (spit). I'll probably fix this at some point, but I might as well take the opportunity to point out that people should use a proper standards-compliant browser such as Opera or Firefox, rather than one which struggles to remain bug-compatible with all the previous broken browsers foisted upon the world by Microsoft... In general, the only reason to use IE is for websites that are so badly written that they will only work with IE!

Nigel Perry - 01/09/2007