Abbey Stream trip report

News, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports
On Sunday the 9th of December 7 Nomads led by Matt, missing only one beer casualty from the night before, met at Laleham near Staines to paddle the Thames and the Abbey Stream. It was looking pretty grim at first, sitting in our cars in the pouring rain, but Fane and Charlotte generously delayed our start until the rain had stopped, the sun had come out and it was looking like really quite a nice day - thank you. For the first two miles up the Thames we fought against a moderate current and headwind, but nevertheless everyone made it without stopping up to and past Penton Hook lock to the start of the Abbey Stream, where we had a short break to get our breath back. Well done Tony!…
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Gade trip report

News, Trip, Trip Reports
On Sunday 11th of November six Nomads, one on his first trip with the club set off from the western end of Cassiobury park in Watford to explore the backwaters of the Gade before joining the Grand Union canal to continue back to the aquadrome. After a quick risk assessment during which nearly everyone found a cut on their hand and eagerly applied sticking plasters after hearing of the risks of Weil's disease, we put in to the newly rain filled Gade by the Met line bridge and set off. The atmosphere of the trip was set quite soon by the narrow river, crowding trees, weak winter light and the many branches to be avoided, snapped or sawn - a cross between Apocalypse Now and The African Queen - but…
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Ivel trip report

News, Reports, Trip Reports
On Sunday the 28th of October nine Nomads led by Ian Walker traveled to Sandy in Bedfordshire to paddle the Ivel. The trip had been postponed by two weeks due to torrential rain, but this weekend we were blessed by beautiful autumn sunshine, no rain and a light wind. Two of our number were on their first trip with the club and another paddling the Ivel for the first time. After a quick risk assessment by Ian we all put on and started off through pretty countryside with the occasional mound of dying reeds to push through. It wasn't long before we came to the first slidey weir, down which Ian took the main group, while three of us turned right down the mill stream to rejoin the main river…
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Symonds Yat trip report

News, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports
On friday the 7th of September despite a forecast of rain seven nomads arrived at Symonds Yat West campsite. By saturday morning they'd found each other and Matt, the trip leader and were joined by two more before arriving at Kerne Bridge for the put in. The Wye was low but still flowing reasonably fast as we set off wondering if we'd be in for a miserable wet day, but apart from a couple of short spells of light drizzle the rain held off and we enjoyed passing through the stunning countryside with even sunshine at times. We made quick progress and soon passing last year's lunch stop we pressed on under Fane's direction to a beach he knew for a very agreeable picnic and canoeing chat. The remaining section…
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Tryweryn trip report

News, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports
On the 11th and 12th of August a trio of Nomads took on the River Tryweryn, a classic white water river and home to the Welsh National White Water Centre. The summer holidays and other commitments denied this opportunity to many others, who would certainly have enjoyed the opportunity to develop their white water skills on Grade III/IV water. However, this allowed our coaches to test their river running skills in a small group of three, dispensing with the traditional warm up on the River Dee and moving straight to the top of the Tryweryn. The shuttle service provided by the centre was fully exploited on Saturday, as the team eddy hopped and surfed their way from the Chipper to the Café several times. No eddy, boof or surf wave…
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Cherwell trip report

News, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports
On Sunday 8th of July Peter Scott led 10 Nomads on a trip new to the club, but not Peter, to the river Cherwell in Oxford - an excellent turn out. This beautiful day was looking to be very hot. We started off on the Thames at 10:40am right next to the Falcon Canoe Club house then paddled a short distance avoiding the rowing boats shooting along to find the River Cherwell, which narrowed considerably from the Thames. We soon came across the first of the beautiful buildings of Oxford University, Christ Church - In the past I've called this trip the Hogwarts Trip, due to much of Harry Potter having being filmed here. The day continued to hint at being extremely hot, but the beauty of the Cherwell is…
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Preparing to move to BLYM

Maintenance, News
On saturday 23rd of June nearly a dozen Nomads helped out with preparations to move to our new site next to BLYM. Ably coordinated by Chilly much work was done between 9.30 and 5pm including raising, partly realigning and restraining the 'bund' or earth bank around the site in preparation for the new secure boundary fence. Other work included clearing undergrowth, leveling the site and preparing for siting the boat storage containers. It was a hot day but despite this a lot of hard manual work was done and cakes and refreshments from Chilly reinvigorated us at lunchtime, just when we needed it. A big thank you to everyone who gave their time and took part. The move to our new site with security of tenure is very important and…
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Spanish Pyrenees trip report

News, Trip, Trip Reports
 Between the 3rd and the 10th of June 7 Nomads travelled to Campo in Aragon, Spain for 4 days Pyrenean white water paddling guided and transported by Eduard and the excellent guys at Kayak Campo. We had a whale of a time paddling 3 big volume, continuous and long (24km!) grade 3/4 rivers, hiking in the snow and even rafted on the last day. There will be more photos and individual reports to come, but for the moment you can enjoy Ben's great video, his report (below) and a couple of choice snaps. Matt, trip organiser Ben: What an amazing trip. The contrast of different rivers was great - from the big rolling waves on the Esera to the bolder fields on the Cinca. Had a impressive hike, the…
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St Patrick’s Stream trip report

News, Trip, Trip Reports
On Sunday 13th of May 7 Nomads, 2 family members and a friend traveled to Wargrave to paddle the beautiful Thames and Abbey Stream and picnic in the sunshine, led by Peter and Matt. Notwithstanding a couple of late comers (you know who you are) we got on the water by 11am and set off up the Thames in glorious sunshine. Despite some rain earlier in the week, the current in the Thames was only moderate, so getting to the lock and the first portage was not too arduous. From the lock the Thames opened out above the weir and past the island to Shiplake College, where some of us were starting to feel hungry already and were keeping an eye out for a picnic spot. We took a detour…
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