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Sunday 27th March... The WCA Access folk urgently need your help. Have you signed the petition yet? It is essential that we get as many signatures as possible on this petition right away, as in just over a month the new Welsh Assembly will have legislative powers to address this issue. This offers a once-only opportunity which we cannot afford to miss. Ask friends, family, colleagues to lend their support by signing. Also, read through this poster - how many of the suggestions on it have you already done? How many can you do to help? Pam Bell, WCA...'In May, the newly elected Welsh government will have devolved legislative powers that they can use for the first time. These were the circumstances in which Scotland achieved Land Reform. Just a few weeks to go before a unique opportunity is lost for ever, and people are sitting on the sidelines! Do you want to be left wondering when it's all over whether it might have happened if you had done your share?' The WCA are moving in the right direction - let's help them all we can.
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Sunday 28th January... Disastrous events down at the Dart in the past week. The River Dart Country Park have hugely reduced their services to paddlers, after repeated alcohol-related poor behaviour by paddlers; in particular, certain events back in November and last weekend. It also hasn't helped that there have been several incidents of emergency services and helicopters being called out for relatively minor or avoidable incidents. Nor has it helped that many paddlers are - incredibly - still blocking traffic at Holne Bridge because they are too tight to pay a few quid for parking in the Dart Park. Paddlers aren't especially popular among the locals at the moment. All this has national implications for the access debate. The Dart Park has been an opportunity to prove beyond doubt that us paddlers are lucrative and sensible tourists, to be welcomed by rural communities. We have failed. New guides to the Wear (from Bishop's Auckland and from Sunderland Bridge). Updates to the Derwent, Lochy, Torridge, Dee and Greta. New photos of the Wharfe, Stanley Embankment, Llugwy, Tees and Dee. New report on Slovenia. Right: Leeds Uni Canoe Club on the Wharfe. |
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Sunday 21st January... A small update (128 files edited!) which clears the backlog to late September 2006. Ever been approached by an Environment Agency Baliff? Having checked their identity card for authenticity and having noted down their name, you might wish to be clear on exactly what their roles and responsibilities are, regarding paddlers. Read this and this. Discuss here. Many thanks to Simon Morse who obtained the documents. New guide to the Avon (Alveston Weir). New photos of the Lune, Avon (Alveston Weir), Cairn Water, Dart, Lune (Halton Rapids), Braan, Arddu (upper and lower) and Mellte. Right: A member of Herts Canoe Club enjoys the Mellte. |
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Sunday 7th January... How is the backlog doing? Well, shamefully I still have a pile of updates left from last March and April (which I hope to clear in the coming week), otherwise I'm clear up to last September. Getting there, bit by bit! The site now has its own server, and should all work much smoother and quicker. Many thanks to the technical team who managed the move...Jules, Rob, Steve. A petition to sign, for the attention of the Right Honourable Anthony Blair PM. New guides to the Loyne, Leam, Fowey, Ickornshaw Beck and Pen-y-ghent Gill. Updates to the Stour, Awe, Arkaig, Greta, Derwent, Loy, Ribble, Tawe, Clyde, Plym, Wye, Tarell, Doon and Lea guides. New photos of the Tawe (upper and lower), Montgomery Canal, Tavy, Allt Mheuran, Little Langdale Beck, Tees (Cauldron Snout and Low Force), Doon. Stour, Tryweryn, Horner Water and Conwy. New video of the Kinglass, Dee and Croglin Beck. New report on paddling in Sweden. Right: The Tawe. |
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Sunday 19th November... The Welsh Canoeing Association are trying to gather information on the reality of the access situation for paddling in Wales. Please make use of this as often as possible... Trip Report Form A reminder that orders for UKRGB t-shirts must be completed before 24th November. The site backlog is still massive but please bear with me, I'm chipping away at it on the rare occasion that I have a spare day... New guides to the Gruinard, Allt Lairig Eilde, Cuileig, Runie, Abhainn Mhor, Severn, Hodder and the Montgomery Canal. Updates to the Ouse (Linton Lock), Lyon, Twymyn, Scar Water, Roy and Wye. New photos of the Cuileig and the Abhainn Mhor. New reports on paddling in Austria, Kyrgyzstan, India and Canada. Right: Exploring in the far north... |
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Tuesday 31st October... Following the success of last year's UK Rivers Guidebook/ Gene17 t-shirts, Simon Westgarth has designed and is producing a new t-shirt for Autumn 2006. Last year's t-shirts paid for half of the annual hosting costs of this site. More info and ordering details here. Pre-orders ONLY all before 24th November. Thanks to Simon for organising this again! |
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Friday 20th October... Following the huge success of the 2005 British Universities Kayaking Expedition to Kyrgyzstan, it has been decided that a Universities Expedition should become a regular fixture in the UK's kayaking calendar. The basic idea behind this plan is for a team, selected from the best and most experienced kayakers that British universities have to offer, to organise and undertake an exploratory whitewater kayaking expedition sometime, somewhere, during 2007. If you are a student at a British university during the '06-'07 academic year, enjoy paddling hard whitewater, and have the time and effort to put into the planning and excecution of an expedition like this one, go to uniyaker.co.uk for information on how to apply. The deadline is the 25th October 2006. Don't miss it! More information here. |
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Tuesday 10th October... We have long been looking forward to the completion of the Environment Agency commissioned report on the viability of improving Access to Rivers by Agreements...knowing what we all know about the viability of Access 'Agreements', it could not fail to aid our case. However, the final report is now completed and incredibly it is a total whitewash, a laughably unacademic and unprofessional piece of work. Early on, the survey team took the amazing step of jettisoning any rivers from their survey which might be difficult to secure 'Agreements' on...e.g. almost the entire Wear was openly dropped from their study. Despite this unacademic approach, in 2004 they still concluded that "Negotiated access agreements alone are unlikely to fully meet the demand and need for canoeable waters...canoeists are disadvantaged by the prevailing patterns of landownership and property rights." Somehow. this realistic conclusion was dumped along the way to suit political motives, and the very first line of the final report's conclusions now reads..."In the vast majority of cases, approaches to securing canoe access by voluntary agreement are successful". The rest is similarly ludicrous. This is the message that British Canoeists wish to convey to Professor Ravenscroft and his team at Brighton University; your report is a steaming pile of horse dung. There is not an active canoeist in the UK who would agree with its conclusions or recognise them as coming close to reflecting the realities of Access to Rivers in England and Wales. Discuss the Report here. For further hollow laughs, look at this. New guide to the Twrch. Updates to the Severn (Jackfields Rapids), Tawe, Falls of Lora, Wear, Hamble, Lune, Roeburn, Tweed, Dart and Arun. New pictures of the Einion, Lune, Garry, Moriston, Medway, Allt A'Chaorainn, Etive, Wharfe, Doon and Blackwater. New video of Allt A'Chaorainn. New reports on paddling in India, Quebec and British Columbia. Right: The Garry, during the 2006 Andy Jackson weekend (above) and Glasgow Canoe Club on the Doon (below) |
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Sunday 10th September... Apologies for the lack of updates through the summer, I've been away on my holidays. Take a look at my holiday snaps! I have just cleared the backlog up to April 2006. New guide to Cwm Llan. Updates to the Tawe, Barle, Tavy, Sawdde, Stanley Embankment, Ure, Awe, Roy, Keltie, Church Beck and Washburn. New pictures of the Arddu, Lledr, Doon, Cwm Llan, Blackwater and Teme. New video of the Tees. A page has been added to explain the work of the British Canoe Union Expeditions Committee. New reports on paddling in Morocco, Iran, Turkey, with thanks to Dave Manby, see the Reports page. Right: Sam Moore on the Arddu. |
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Friday 20th October... Following the huge success of the 2005 British Universities Kayaking Expedition to Kyrgyzstan, it has been decided that a Universities Expedition should become a regular fixture in the UK's kayaking calendar. The basic idea behind this plan is for a team, selected from the best and most experienced kayakers that British universities have to offer, to organise and undertake an exploratory whitewater kayaking expedition sometime, somewhere, during 2007. If you are a student at a British university during the '06-'07 academic year, enjoy paddling hard whitewater, and have the time and effort to put into the planning and excecution of an expedition like this one, go to uniyaker.co.uk for information on how to apply. The deadline is the 25th October 2006. Don't miss it! More information here. |
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Tuesday 10th October... We have long been looking forward to the completion of the Environment Agency commissioned report on the viability of improving Access to Rivers by Agreements...knowing what we all know about the viability of Access 'Agreements', it could not fail to aid our case. However, the final report is now completed and incredibly it is a total whitewash, a laughably unacademic and unprofessional piece of work. Early on, the survey team took the amazing step of jettisoning any rivers from their survey which might be difficult to secure 'Agreements' on...e.g. almost the entire Wear was openly dropped from their study. Despite this unacademic approach, in 2004 they still concluded that "Negotiated access agreements alone are unlikely to fully meet the demand and need for canoeable waters...canoeists are disadvantaged by the prevailing patterns of landownership and property rights." Somehow. this realistic conclusion was dumped along the way to suit political motives, and the very first line of the final report's conclusions now reads..."In the vast majority of cases, approaches to securing canoe access by voluntary agreement are successful". The rest is similarly ludicrous. This is the message that British Canoeists wish to convey to Professor Ravenscroft and his team at Brighton University; your report is a steaming pile of horse dung. There is not an active canoeist in the UK who would agree with its conclusions or recognise them as coming close to reflecting the realities of Access to Rivers in England and Wales. Discuss the Report here. For further hollow laughs, look at this. New guide to the Twrch. Updates to the Severn (Jackfields Rapids), Tawe, Falls of Lora, Wear, Hamble, Lune, Roeburn, Tweed, Dart and Arun. New pictures of the Einion, Lune, Garry, Moriston, Medway, Allt A'Chaorainn, Etive, Wharfe, Doon and Blackwater. New video of Allt A'Chaorainn. New reports on paddling in India, Quebec and British Columbia. Right: The Garry, during the 2006 Andy Jackson weekend (above) and Glasgow Canoe Club on the Doon (below) |
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Sunday 10th September... Apologies for the lack of updates through the summer, I've been away on my holidays. Take a look at my holiday snaps! I have just cleared the backlog up to April 2006. New guide to Cwm Llan. Updates to the Tawe, Barle, Tavy, Sawdde, Stanley Embankment, Ure, Awe, Roy, Keltie, Church Beck and Washburn. New pictures of the Arddu, Lledr, Doon, Cwm Llan, Blackwater and Teme. New video of the Tees. A page has been added to explain the work of the British Canoe Union Expeditions Committee. New reports on paddling in Morocco, Iran, Turkey, with thanks to Dave Manby, see the Reports page. Right: Sam Moore on the Arddu. |
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Sunday 9th July... Have you done anything about the Braan yet? The SCA are fighting to save this wonderful gorge. Read here. The website backlog is now cleared someway into February. Slowly but surely, I'm getting there... New guides to the Tame and Bitches tidal rapid. Updates to the Chelmer, Hamble, Church Beck, Nant Clydach, Exe, Fowey, Falls of Lora, Lune and Alwen. New pictures of the Conwy, Allt A'Chaorainn, Etive, Nedd Fechan, Allt Cheanna Mhuir, Fowey, Clyde and Cwm Llan. New video of the Fowey. New reports on paddling in India here and here, and also on an accident in Nepal. Right: The Conwy. Pic from Tom Laws. |
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Sunday 18th June... The WCA have organised an online petition for primary legislation on Access to Welsh Rivers. Go sign. Discuss it here. The backlog is now cleared to late January, more to follow... New guide to the Twiss. Updates to the Lune, Greta, Wharfe, Clyde, Teme, Ogwen, Kent, Falls of Lora and Mellte. New pictures of the Lune, Tees, Llugwy, Twiss, Doe, Etive, Water of Minnoch, Lui, Clyde, Usk, Gloy, Meavy, Erme and Usk. New video of the Llugwy. Right: The Llugwy, photo from Tom Woodstone. |
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Sunday 11th June... Ashley Charlwood at the WCA wants as many paddlers as possible to fill in a brief online survey of our paddling habits and access needs. Go do it. I am a rather embarrassing six months behind on website updates...there is no excuse! I intend to catch up with as much as possible in the coming week, watch this space. For starters... New guides to the upper, middle and lower Rheidol, and also the Aeron. Thanks to Patrick Clissold. New books have been added. Right: Deep in the Rheidol Gorge. |
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Wednesday 19th April... I've just returned from a great two week trip to India. Photos here and here, also see the discussion and notes. I will get on with updating the site as soon as possible... |
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Tuesday 28th March... Ashley Charlwood at the WCA was instrumental in making this news feature happen on the 'Daily Politics' Show...good work Ashley! Discuss it here. Franco Ferrero has just released the second edition of his book White Water Safety and Rescue. All white water paddlers definitely should own and have read a copy, it is an essential tool. The new edition is updated and is a marked improvement on the first in terms of content, clarity and presentation. Discuss it here. Backlog cleared to Christmas Eve 2005...sorry it has become so long! I'll do another update next month, but first I am going on holiday. New guides to the Allt Cheanna Mhuir and Afon Arddu. Updates to the Spean, Findhorn, Conwy, Teme, Eden, Arddu, Crawick, Dulas, Great Ouse, Cam, Doon, Esk and Ouse (Linton Weir). New pictures of the Don, Orchy, Pattack, Coe, Nevis, Arkaig, Etive, Allt Mheuran, Avon, Don, Frome, Avon, Ouse (Linton Weir) and Dart. Right: Linton Weir on the River Ouse, picture from Mark Pooleman. |
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Sunday 25th February... Access to Rivers update James Farquharson successfully co-ordinated a constitutional membership request for a BCU EGM to be held last year. The EGM was never held; instead the BCU were forced to agree (among other things) to finally get themselves organised and run a high-profile event within a limited time-frame; this materialised as the Westminster Paddle, which helped lead to the flurry of recent media interest in the Access to Rivers issue. However, the BCU management were clearly rattled to learn that active paddling members can influence their policy and actions. There is a motion at this years' BCU AGM to make it virtually impossible for an EGM to be called again. If this bothers you, read this to learn what you can do about it. Reading MP Martin Salter represents the angling lobby in Parliament, yet is bizarrely ill-informed, incorrect and confused about the Access to Rivers issue. Read his 'standard' letter which he is sending out to those who consult him on this issue. Feel free to reply to him. Backlog of updates cleared to beginning of December 2005. New guides to the Clywedog and Nethan. Updates to the Frome, Fechlin, Stort, Weaver, Teith, Arkaig and Lune. New pictures of the Tawe, Hamble, Arddu, Nith, Leny, Orchy, Glaslyn, Nantygwyryd and Glean Cia-aig. New report from Andy McMahon on paddling in Bolivia. |
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Saturday 28th January... Access to Rivers update 'I didn't know this argument was going on' - presenter, Radio Wales The Access to Rivers issue is continuing to receive increasing attention and acknowledgement from the media. In the past week, Lynn Hughes (Vice President of the Welsh Salmon & Trout Association) has done sterling work in this respect, with a letter to The Times and an interview on Radio Wales. Our gracious thanks to him. Listen to the interview here. Discuss this excellent progress here and here. Replies to Mr Hughes are published in Today's Times. Ever wondered what Anglers actually do, or wanted to let Angling friends know what we do? Mike Redding has done an superb job of demystifying the two recreational pastimes in this information pack; it should be circulated as widely as possible, to help remove misunderstanding and misinformation. Discuss it here. Also useful in this respect are the discussions which have developed between Anglers and Canoeists via Fishing Magic, a popular Angling website...see here and here. The Parliamentary Early Day Motion (EDM) on the Access Issue has now been signed by over 100 MPs - excellent work to all concerned. Discuss it here. The illogical lack of welcome extended to canoeing tourists in some parts of our nation has received more publicity recently, starting with this thread here on the Community Pages about Snowdonia, continuing with coverage on Snowdonia Active, before reaching the Daily Post and receiving a measured response. The acknowledged value of watersports tourism in North Wales has generally been receiving an increasingly raised profile. Right: Enjoying our river heritage on the pleasant upper Conwy. Embarrassingly for the Snowdonia Tourist authorities who naturally seek to welcome adventure tourists, some members of the Community Council of the village at the put-in have amusingly vested themselves with the authority to ban navigation on the local river, film paddlers and place 'No Canoeing' signs up; 'This whole fiasco makes it clear in my mind that access agreements are unsustainable and that legislation is the only way to provide access for paddling.' - Ashley Charlwood, WCA Access Development Officer. |
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Sunday 15th January... Backlog of updates cleared to mid-November. New guides to the Water of Deuch, River Bruar and Allt Mhuic. Updates to the Leny, Senni, Roy, Devils Water, Pattack, Sprint, Derwent, Crai, Dee, Lune, Wye and Wharfe. New pictures of the Luss, Tyne, Dee, Spean, Allt Mhuic and Etive. Phil Carrivick has updated his guide to paddling in Slovenia. He has also set up a marvellous location map for the users of UKRGB...add yourself! Also read the comments in the Community.
Right: The somewhat vertically inclined Allt Mhuic. Pictures from John Pinn. |
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Friday 23rd December... Backlog shortened by one week. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all who have contributed to the website in 2005, whether through riverguides, reports or Community contributions. Special thanks to Rob Tuley who rebuilt the website from scratch last week by moving it to its own dedicated server. This should mean that the site is now better able to cope with the hugely increased usage that 2005 has seen. Special thanks also to Oliver Castle and Paul Chapman, who contacted the site unprompted and offered to hand over the ownership of the addresses www.ukriversguidebook.com and www.ukrgb.co.uk, even refusing offers of payment! New guides to the Aled, Hebden Water, Wear, Grains Gill, Belah, Birk Beck and Wye. Updates to the Swale, Esk, Allt Glas Dhoire, Tees, Ashop, Tawe, Wear and Wye. New pictures of the Conwy, Dart, Tavy, West Dart, Grains Gill, Belah, Wasdale Beck and Birk Beck. Right: High on Dartmoor in Tavy Cleave. |
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Sunday 11th December... Backlog cleared to the start of November. New guides to the Don, Ehen, Calder, Cocker and the River Dart (Newbridge wave). Updates to the Roeburn, Goyt, Wye, Awe, Cononish, Arkaig, Wye, Avon, Esk, Torver Beck, Lochy, Lyon, Crake, Usk, Leck Beck, Rhondda Fawr, Plym and Lune. New pictures of the Ehen, Calder, Cocker, Tarn Beck, Wye, Tweed, Exe, Swale, Duddon, Leck Beck and the Whiteadder. Unfortunately (and expensively), we've outgrown our business hosting account. In the next few weeks, the site will be moved to its own server. There'll probably be some disruption in service unfortunately, but the end result should be a much more reliably working site. Bear with us. Right: Cumbrian spate...Leck Beck. Photo from Steve Ed. |
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Sunday 20th November... Backlog cleared to the beginning of October. New guides to the Arddu, Stort, Stour, Medway, Rother, Brede, Tillingham, Beult, Chichester Harbour creeks, Langstone Harbour, Wey, Fal, Percuil, Fowey, Wye and Shlatach. Updates to the Great Ouse, Allt A'Chaorainn, Weaver, Rhondda Fawr, River Lea (Dobbs Weir), and Allt Cam Ghlinne. New pictures of the Shlatach, Percuil, Avon, Stour, Wey, Fowey, Fal, Chichester Harbour, Langstone Harbour, Sprint, Allt Ceitlein, Dee, and Allt Cam Ghlinne. Special thanks to David Wilson who has made a massive contribution to the site recently, through guides to touring rivers, harbours and creeks. Right: Who says that men with beards can't playboat? The River Lea at Dobbs Weir, paddler Mark Coleman. |
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Saturday 12th November... New guides to the Black Brook, Stour, Cam and Reach Lode. Updates and new pictures in the Gain guide. New video of the Dart, West Dart, Lyn, Tavy and Mellte. New article on safety. A reminder that 19th November is the last possible chance to make t-shirt orders! Have you heard about the Parliamentary Early Day Motion on River Access? You need to write to your MP to encourage him or her to support it, as soon as possible. On the Community Pages at the moment, you might encounter occasional error messages, plus there is only a limited search function - we are sorry! The site is seeing unprecedented traffic (nearly 10000 different users on some days) and we are straining the limits of our server. We had to remove the search database to make space. We are looking for longterm solutions, watch this space. Right: The Gain. |
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Two
weekends for your diary, down at the Dart... |
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3rd/4th December 2005 Gene17's Adventure Paddler's Weekend at the River Dart Country Park.
Lined up for Saturday night are: * KAYAKSTAN, a presentation from this year's most talked about Mission, the British Universities Expedition to KYRGYZSTAN * TEIGDAL, amazing footage from one of Norway's epic runs filmed & edited by Steve Rogers & Rob Coffey * Manufacturer's Q&A Session, your chance to ask tech questions to the industry leaders PALM & PYRANHA * BOLIVIA, the Tibet of Latin America, Mark Rainsley from UKRGB finally gives a lecture, from just one of his recent trips * And numerous Short Films & Trailers from forthcoming releases, plus a chance to talk plans and ideas with some of the UK's leading Adventure Paddlers in the Dart Bar As ever, the day time is free for you to go & paddle with your friends. Entry to the Saturday night events is free too, see you there! See www.gene17.com/kayaking for more info. |
10th/11th December 2005 Launch of the Canoe Control DVD Guide to Rivers of the Southern French Alps at River Dart Country Park.
A full evening of fun entertainment kicks off at 7-30... * Alpine lectures Free Sunday River Sessions... Next day, take the opportunity to improve your paddling. Canoe Control’s Alpine team will be offering a number of free river coaching clinics, from freestyle to tweaking important river skills. Top professionals will be there all day to help you improve! Booking for these courses will be on the Saturday afternoon. Places will be on a first come basis (all participants to have their own boats/equipment). |
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There have been plenty of requests for UK Rivers Guidebook t-shirts in past years. However, up to this point I have spectacularly failed to deliver, being both lazy and completely devoid of entrepreneurial spirit. Simon Westgarth of Gene17 has fortunately stepped in with a rather snazzy design. Simon and Gene17 are doing all the design, ordering, sales and distribution, whilst I do nothing at all. Proceeds will be split evenly between Gene17, and this website's server costs. For further details on how to order, go here. The deadline for pre-ordering is 19th November. Discuss the t-shirts here and here. Many thanks to Simon for getting this up and running. |
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Monday 31st October... Update backlog cleared to the middle of September. New guides to the Coe, Allt Glas Dhoire, Burn of Voxter and Doe. Rewrites of the Coupall, Coe and Nevis guides. Updates to the Don, Wear, Lune, and Adur guides. New pictures of the Coe, Avon (Saltford Weir), Brathay, Allt Glas Dhoire and Moriston. New detailed guide to paddling Val Sesia in Italy. Don't forget that you have until 19th November to make t-shirt orders! Right: Ben Williams on the Coe last week. |
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Sunday 30th October... Update backlog cleared to the beginning of September...nearly there, bear with me! New guide to the Einion. Updates to the Tryweryn, Teme, Taff, Ogwen, Falls of Lora, Allt Gleann A Chaolais, Lochy, Rhiw, Hayle Sluice, Dwyfor, Doon, Dart, Tummel, Stour, Pattack and Clywedog. New pictures of the Kinglas, Braan, Roy, Erme, Einion, Wye and Edw. New articles on paddling the Guil Gorge, the Allier and in Ladakh. New video of the Tryweryn. Right: The Erme, running in mid-summer. Photo of Matt Blue from Mark Quest. |
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Saturday 8th October... New guide to the Morar. Updates to the Avon, Irthing and Spean. New pictures of the Kent, Falls of Lora, Wye, Ettrick, Lui, Quoich and Garbh Allt. New report on paddling the Drass River in Ladakh, Northern India. Backlog cleared to beginning of June. Right: After a few years when the Falls of Lora did not form properly, reports are coming through that the playspot is now nearly as good as it used to be. |
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Saturday 17th September... Backlog now cleared to the start of May 2005...hope to clear it all before the new WW season starts! New guides to the Arun, Hamble, Teifi, Etive, and Allt Ceitlein. Updates to the Stour, Adur, Nantygwyryd, Moriston, Greta, Dee, Conwy, Spean and Inverar Burn guides. New pictures of the Hamble, Arun, Adur, Dee, Leven, Allt Chaorainn, Moriston, Conwy, Etive, Mawddach, Ystwyth and Inverar Burn. New video of the Leven. New reports on paddling in Corsica and Italy. Stuck at home or work bored? Take some time out to envy the Kayakstan boys. Right: Last April...the Andy Jackson Memorial Weekend on the Moriston. Photo from Stuart Miller. |
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A date for your diaries! From Roger at AS Watersports...'The SW Canoe Show is taking place on Saturday 1st October 2005, again on the Piazza opposite AS Watersports in Exeter. We have had tremendous support from the canoeing industry again this year, with an excellent turn out expected from all the manufacturers and suppliers in the UK. All companies have pledged to bring fresh new products to show for the coming winter season, along with their demo boats, any bargains, and the usual wealth of expert information and advice. For the full exhibitor list, regular news updates, and show details please check www.aswatersports.co.uk. Of course entry is FREE TO THE PUBLIC; there is easy parking, easy demos and stands open at around 10.30. Hope to see you there!' |
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Sunday 4th September... Have you sent your email about the Braan, yet? If not, see here...don't delay, the deadline is 6th Sept. The backlog of site updates is now cleared to the beginning of April 2005 - poor effort I know, but I'm getting there bit by bit. I have been away all summer on the rivers and sea, that's my lame excuse. New guides to the Balder, Weaver and Avon (Rock Mill Weir). Updates to the Avon (Saltford Weir), Derwent (Howsham Weir), Braan and Leven. New pictures of the Quoich, Coe, Tees, Cwm Llan, Lune, Lune, Avon (Rock Mill Weir), Llugwy, Edw, Eden and Wye. New video of the Ribble and Twiss (Twiss riverguide to follow). New reports on boating in Costa Rica and Bolivia, from Chris Wheeler. Right: The Cwm Llan, photo supplied by Chris Walker. |
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Monday 13th June... THREATS AND INTIMIDATION
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Thursday 28th April... Dates for your diary...Sat 28 and Sun 29 May 2005 on the River Tummel in Perthshire. 'The 2005
Liquid Life Festival will be bigger, better and even
more fun than you had last year! Another release of water has
been confirmed and many thanks to Scottish and Southern for again
making this event possible. The festival will be run over two
days, Sat 28 and Sun 29 May 2005, which happens to be
the May bank holiday weekend.' |
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Monday 11th April... The Community Pages were brought down by hackers last night, but have been painstakingly repaired today by Rob Tuley. Our thanks to him once again! Saturday's Daily Telegraph included an article on Access.
read it here and
discuss it here. |
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Sunday 10th April... The Andy Jackson Memorial Weekend (1st-3rd April 2005) Steve Rogers... "This weekend just saw a memorial weekend for
the late Andy Jackson. The event was held in Fort William and coincided
with a release on the River Garry and the River
Moriston. Photos of the weekend...with thanks to www.breadandbutter.me.uk. More reports on the Community
Pages. |
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Eight of us have just returned safe and sound from a fantastic boating expedition to Bolivia! Tough creek boating, epic gorges, scary roads, first descents and dodgy tummies...all splendid fun. Many thanks to the BCU Expeditions Committee for their support. Some of my trip photos of this fantastic country and its beautiful people and landscapes are posted here...ignore or endure at your leisure. Full trip report, river notes etc. to follow. I'll also, um, get this site back up to date. |
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Tuesday 15th March Backlog cleared to one month ago...I leave for Bolivia next week, will try to clear it all first. New guides to Euchan Water, Doon (Ness Glen), Leck Beck and the Prysor. Updates to the Irthing, Conwy and Teifi. New pictures of the Usk, Irthing, Leck Beck and Teifi. New video of the Irthing. New detailed guide to Uganda and the White Nile. Right: Walking in to Leck
Beck, photo from Mark Leicester. |
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Sunday 13th March Backlog of updates cleared to the start of February. New guide to the Wye (Derbyshire). Updates to the Mellte, Little Langdale Beck, Greta, Leven, Tavy, Tamar, Barle, Exe, Crawick, Carron and Leven guides. New pictures of the Avon, Ogwen, Llugwy, Lyn, Conwy, Mawddach, Dart, Tavy, Conwy (Fairy Glen), Nantygwyryd, Lochy and Leven. New video of the Tees, Conwy (Fairy Glen), Ure, Tryweryn and Kent. Also, a sobering history lesson. Right: Heather Smith at the Lochy aluminium
plant playwave, photo from Ron Cameron. |
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British Universities Kayak Expedition 2005 A group of some of the best kayakers at British Universities has been selected and plan to travel to Kyrgyzstan in August '05 for a month of exploratory whitewater kayaking in the Central Tian Shan mountain ranges. The selection event was held in North Wales in December '04 where the team paddled some of the regions test-pieces including classics such as the Colwyn, Fairy Glen and Ogwen. The final selected team consists of nine kayakers from seven universities across the UK. From right to left these are: Tim Burne, Wouter Wynberg, James Crookall, Rob Tuley, David Fairweather, Martyn Sollars, Graham Fairweather, Phil Higgins and photo by Phil Carrivick Kyrgyzstan was chosen by the team from a researched list of countries (e.g. Papua New Guinea, Bhutan, Philippines) due to its massive potential for unexplored whitewater, and predictable glacial water levels. The team hope to tick off a number of steep alpine first descents and are also aiming to complete some longer multi-day trips exploring longer rivers in the country. They are currently looking for support, if interested please contact them at sponsor@kayakstan.net For more information see www.kayakstan.net |
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Tuesday 1st March Richard Parkin, Editor of 'Paddles' Magazine, has chosen the winners of the photo competition! The theme was 'UK Boating'.The winning photos are (left) Mark Harris's shot of Shepperton Weir and (right) Spike Green's shot of Chris Walker on the Afon Llan in Snowdonia. The winners acquire free subscriptions to 'Paddles', and more importantly, virtually God-like status among their peers. An honourable mention goes to David Pearson's interpretation of UK Boating, taken on London's raging River Wandle...
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Many thanks to Richard, and to all who took part by sending in their quintessentially British boating photos! |
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Sunday 20th February New guides to Gameshope Burn and Glengaber Burn. Rewrites of the Megget and Whiteadder guides. Updates to the Exe, Lledr and Kent guides. New pictures of the Conwy, Roy, Plym and Pattack. New reports on paddling in Turkey and in Peru. I've also fixed the Google search function (below), with help from Steve Balcombe. Right: Pinball rapid on the Plym. |
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Saturday 19th February - website backlog caught up to just over a month ago(!) New guides to the Dorset Stour (Spetisbury to Canford) and Varragill. Full rewrite of the Clyde (Falls of Clyde) guide. Updates to the Lochy, Swale, Llyfni, Conwy (Fairy Glen), Tryweryn, Taff, Itchen (Woodmill Weir), Lune, Teme and Bovey guides. New pictures of the Lochy, Tees, North Tyne, Washburn, Conwy (Fairy Glen), Torridge, Spean, Orchy, Loy, Allt Mheuran, Webburn, Tavy, Coe, Wharfe, Roy, Findhorn, Carron, Leny, Erme, Lyn and Wye. New maps and guides to the Soca Region of Slovenia, courtesy of Phil Carrivick and Helen Burns. Right: Daz Clarkson enjoys the Fairy Glen. Below: Inverlair Falls on the Spean,
montage from Andy Keen. |
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Thursday 3rd February...
Paddlesports Evening at the Fort William Mountain Film Festival - Wednesday 16th of February
The evening is organised in Partnership with the SCA
and will feature a selection of Films and Talks on paddling adventures
from all over the world. There will be a talk by Greg Nicks "Slugging
it", Dave Manby's 'Axis of Evil' film, Rob Coffey's latest Blue
Nile adventures, Andy Jackson's Road Trip film and a Lifestyle Film
by Steve Rogers. The evening is dedicated to the memory of the Late
and Great Andy Jackson. There will be a bar with Alcoholic refreshments
to aid social intercourse! |
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Wednesday 19th January... A date for your diaries...12/13 March - APWE in the Lakes! Simon Westgarth... 'Gene17's
recent APWE at the River Dart has proved so successful, we're heading
to the Lakes 11/13 March for a new venue, with Retail Partners Brookbank
Canoes & UK
Canoes. The Lakeland Centre in Kendal will play host to an evening
focused on Adventure Paddling with... Right: Don't even think about paddling the River Kent on that weekend. Oh no. CANOE GAMES WANTED...Have you got a favourite
canoe game that you would like to share? Rivers
Publishing are publishing an all new edition of the 200 Best
Kayak and Canoe Games (Dave Ruse’s book is excellent but is now
a little dated). This new book has the support of BCU Coaching and
will be edited by Loel Collins, Head of Canoeing at Plas y Brenin.
We would like this to be very much a team effort, and to be a collection
of all the best games used by coaches. We are planning a quality
full colour book, with loads of illustrations – one that inspires
and encourages good instruction. We aim to have lots of summary tables
and clear simple cross references to the BCU star tests and coaching
programme. Please send
us your games in any format, email, pencil, etc. Don’t worry
too much about your grammar or spelling – we can look after this.
We will acknowledge everything received and if we use the game, you
will of course be credited, get world-wide fame (honest!), and will
receive one or more free copies of the book. Last date 7th February.
Please email or write to: Pete Knowles, Rivers Publishing, Gower,
Blencathra St, Keswick, CA12 4HW Email: games@riverspublishing.demon.co.uk |
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Sunday 16th January... The past two months have seen the public profile of the Access to Rivers issue raised higher than at any time previously, entirely through the initiative of individual paddlers. - Jim Jayes organised the successful Dee Days protest, which achieved national media coverage. For instance, Radio 4's You and Yours programme featured a report on 4th December 2004. Listen to the report here (5 megs, Windows Media). - Phil Dunn and Alan Mellon both contacted BBC Country File, who researched and filmed a short piece on Access. This was aired today. Watch the report here (13 megs, Quicktime Media) or here (7 megs, Windows Media). Discuss it here. Now...time for the BCU Rivers Access Campaign to take note of what these folk have achieved alone, and to take the initiative at last? Many thanks to Steve and David for supplying the clips. |
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Friday 14th January... updates backlog cleared to the end of Nov 2004. It's a start! The Access to Rivers issue on BBC Country File! A number of users of this site contacted the producers and got them interested. The programme will air at 11.30 am on Sunday 16th January with Access as the lead story. 2.5 million people watch this programme, nice work Gents! New guide to the Clyde (Falls of Clyde). Updates to the Eamont, Stock Ghyll, Pattack, Derwent and Barle guides. New pictures of the Kent, Stanley Embankment, Stock Ghyll and the Derwent. New report on paddling the immense Brahmaputra River in India's Arunachal Pradesh. This paper 'The Future of Access to Water' was presented before Christmas to all the Environment Agency's Regional Fisheries, and Recreation Advisory Committees. No, it's not exciting. But it's worth looking at, it's basically a proposal for the EA to take on the Access issue. It cannot be a coincidence that this appeared not long after the second Brighton Uni Report on Access 'Agreements'. Discuss it here. Right: PADDLES MAGAZINE have kindly offered a Years' free subscription to the winner of our latest rules-free photo competition. The theme - UK BOATING. Picture shows Chas Couchman on the River Erme. |
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Sunday 2nd January... Happy New Year! A New Years' Resolution...I will try to get better at keeping up with the site updates that folk kindly send me. At the moment I'm two months' behind, oops. In the meantime... ...read Chris Wheeler's account of his accident on Conwy Falls and wince. Essential reading. ...I've just returned from Uganda! Check out my holiday snaps. Also, consider making use of this website. Right: Cheryl Robinson takes on the White Nile's Malalu playwave. She was our group novice and took her BCU 3 star test the next day! Available as wallpaper for your PC at 1024x768 resolution here. Rightclick on the large picture when it has downloaded and select 'save target as...'. |
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Friday 10th December... I am beginning to wade through a huge pile of updates...I will attempt to clear it before I go to Uganda next weekend. Thanks for all those who have sent submissions during the last month, I haven't forgotten you! New guide to the Kennet (complete re-write). Updates to the Moriston, Derwent and Spean. New pictures of the Spean, lower Orchy, middle Orchy, Church Beck, Nith, Etive, Brathay, Ure and Kent. See you all tomorrow night... |
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Sunday 5th December...
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Monday 30th November... A reminder that the River Dart Adventure Padding Weekend is soon...last years' event was great, and Mr Westgarth assures us that he's got the same spate water levels booked for this year...
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| Saturday 13th November...Some important dates for your diary. | ||
Wed 17th Nov, Cheltenham Deb Pinniger Slideshow Lecture World Freestyle Kayak Champion and international boater Deb Pinniger is coming to Cheltenham to share the stories and photographs she has collected from her time spent traveling the globe in search of whitewater. Deb has journeyed through Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas and has recently created a book entitled 'L'Eau Vive' which documents the vitality of the world and the uniquely diverse life of a travelling kayaker. Details of the lecture are as follows: Date: Wed 17th Nov This show is already proving popular and at this price you'd be crazy not to attend! Tickets will be available on the door but if you want to book tickets or need more info, speak to or email Jon Wright. Pates Grammar school can be found here and a flyer for this event can be seen here. |
Sat 20th-Sun 21st Nov, Llangollen Dee Days Event | |