29Oct 2018 by Michael Quinn

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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10Sep 2018 by Michael Quinn

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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13Aug 2018 by Michael Quinn

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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09Jul 2018 by Michael Quinn

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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24Jun 2018 by Michael Quinn

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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10Jun 2018 by Michael Quinn

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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13May 2018 by Michael Quinn

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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08Apr 2018 by Michael Quinn

Nene WWC trip report

Trip, Trip Reports
Five nomads descended on the Nene white water course in Northampton on Sunday to enjoy the white water. The weather could have been better, but we didn’t let this put us off even though some of us were in shorts! We thought it would be a good idea to start on the middle of the course to give Charlotte and Fane practice breaking in and out and ferry gliding with Ben and Ian showing us how it should be done. Very soon Fane and Charlotte were styling some nice moves, so it was time to let them loose on the bottom part of the course, which they paddled very nicely. At times it was like paddling in thick mud, as you'll see from the pictures. This was due to so…
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12Mar 2018 by Michael Quinn

Hertford Lea trip report

News, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports
On 11th March 7 Nomads including Sam on his first trip with the club traveled to Hertford to explore the river Lea led by Peter Scott, himself a former member of Herts canoe club. It started out sunny and warm as we launched in front of the impressive Herts canoe club clubhouse and headed downriver. Not far below we found the first two step weir, where we stayed a while practicing ferry glides and approaching the stopper under Peter's expert tutelage. No one was brave enough to go right in the stopper though, which looked a bit too munchy. We then attempted to turn left up the river Bean, but soon encountered a fisherman and decided not to continue. Instead we carried on down the Lea through country opening out…
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