13Sep 2026 by Nigel Atkinson No Comments

River Wye Trip – Saturday 13th -Sunday 14th September

News, Recreational, Uncategorized
Rapids, rain, riverside lunches and a few unexpected swims On the weekend of 13–14 September, six Nomads headed to the beautiful River Wye at Symonds Yat, Herefordshire, for a weekend of kayaking, camping and, inevitably, a little adventure. The group was Nigel, Mark, Thomas, Britta, Bryony and Ankit, with Nigel leading the trip. For Bryony and Ankit, it was a great opportunity to build confidence on moving water, with the more experienced paddlers keeping a watchful eye and helping us through the trickier sections. The plan for Saturday was to paddle roughly nine miles from Kerne Bridge to Symonds Yat, enjoying the Wye Valley scenery before taking on the Grade 1/2 rapids at Symonds Yat. Sunday would be decided depending on how everyone was feeling after day one. Day 1 – Saturday: Kerne Bridge…
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25Jul 2026 by Anton Zuccaro No Comments

River Tryweryn – 2026

News, Recreational, Uncategorized
Friday On a warm, sunny Friday four Nomads made their way to Bala in North Wales to paddle the National White Water Centre on the River Tryweryn. It was due to be five of us, but a last-minute work problem meant Simon couldn’t make it. The weekend was a joint trip run in conjunction with the Ipswich Canoe Club and, as has become tradition, started with a warm-up on the River Dee at Llangollen. By all accounts, Nigel and Nick had a great afternoon’s paddling at Mile End Mill before driving on to join the rest of the Nomad team at the Royal White Lion in Bala. After checking in, we whiled away the evening having dinner and a few pints before finishing with the customary mensa puzzle that is…
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31Mar 2026 by Nigel Atkinson 1 Comment

Dart Loop & River Exe Weekend, 2026

News, Recreational, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports
Saturday – The Dart Loop A cosy Friday night was spent at the Dartbridge Inn and on Saturday morning Alex made heroic work of the full English breakfast plus continental buffet. We gathered our gear together to organise shuttles, ably orchestrated by Nigel, our trip leader, with the type of precision only granted through many years of previous experience. By 10:30, boats were on the water at Newbridge; spirits were high, even though the water level was not. The Dart’s sparkling waters greeted us with moss‑draped oaks, grey wagtails flitting along the banks and plenty of rocks just under the surface. We had some fun in the play wave just beyond the bridge, with the novices testing out their white water skills. The early rapids - the washing machine and…
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21Dec 2025 by Nigel Atkinson No Comments

Nomad Christmas Paddle – St Patrick’s Stream & the Thames

News, Polo Reports, Recreational, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports
Nomad’s Christmas paddle began at Wokingham Waterside Centre, where we arrived full of festive spirit and an impressive assortment of boats, buoyancy aids, and Santa hats. Kit was sorted, vehicles were shuffled in a well-organised shuttle to the get-out point, and the younger members debated one of the day’s most important questions: whether their Yule log should be consumed on the river or saved for later. We set off down the Thames in conditions that were far better than expected, fuelled by jelly babies and seasonal optimism. Nigel and Tony made the most of the moving water, demonstrating ferry gliding and breaking in and out for those newer to flowing rivers, while giving others a chance to practise and refine their skills. Meanwhile, some of the polo players, clearly suffering…
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08Nov 2025 by Nigel Atkinson No Comments

River Tees 2025

News, Recreational, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports
Only two Nomads ventured to county Durham near the frozen North where the White Walkers rule for three days of paddling on the River Tees. We joined ICC on the water and all enjoyed a great weekend paddling. The weather was surprisingly warm for the time of year and the river levels relatively low, which I for one is was grateful for, as in flood the Tees looks particularly scary! On the Friday we paddled from Barnard Castle down to Eggleston Abbey rapids as a warmup. This feature being easily portaged but a fun bit of grade 3. On the Saturday We paddled the stretch from Middleton-in-Teesdale to Cotherston relaxing paddle (and a bit of a scrape) on grade 2 water. All the above was a warm up for the…
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13Sep 2025 by Nigel Atkinson 1 Comment

River Wye Weekend 2025

News, Recreational, Reports, Trip, Trip Reports
A Saturday and Sunday visit to Symonds Yat saw 9 Nomads enjoy a weekend of paddling in sunshine, showers and bouts of heavy rain. Saturday saw a paddle from Kerne Bridge to Symonds Yat with two Nomads on their first river trip, Stanley and Ankit. Well done to both who enjoyed the day and were smiling throughout, even when running through Nigel’s warm up routine - open the door, shut the door - with stretching actions to mimic. After some Health and Safety pointers we were off - paddling 5k lazily down the river to a lunch stop of sandwiches and fruit midway. Arriving at the rapids there was some trepidation amongst the new guys but all tackled the rapids well with some of the more experienced paddlers keeping an…
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12Jul 2025 by Nigel Atkinson 1 Comment

Tryweryn and Dee 2025

News, Recreational, Trip, Trip Reports
Four nomads arrived about 1:30pm at Mile End Mill (formally JJ’s) on the river Dee for a warm up session on the Friday so we could all get used to moving water before tackling the Tryweryn. Break ins, break outs, ferry glides along with a couple of rolls. Waves were surfed and stoppers negotiated and everyone found their sea legs (or river arms!) On Friday evening we had dinner in the White Lion pub and as we had all signed up to paddle the Tryweryn on the Saturday It was decided to meet at the Welsh National White Water Centre top car park. Simon, Ian, Martin, Nick and myself all paddled the upper (2km of grade 3-4 rapids) rerunning the Grave Yard a few times stopping at the Cafe for…
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22Jun 2025 by Nigel Atkinson No Comments

SE Region Polo Fun Day

Event, News, Polo, Polo Reports, Recreational
Sunday saw over 50 signups from around the region for a day of fantastic social polo and some ridiculous matches on SUPs and Corricles where the teams appeared to be more interested in sinking the opposition rather than scoring goals. Well done Chilly for being the key person who organised a great day and thanks to all who helped with the BBQ, setting up the second pitch, taking it down, refereeing and manning the tables. Nomads deployed their second polo pitch so everyone was always only one match away from being back on the water. This is a great addition to the facilities available at Nomads making us a key polo location in the region. The day started by creating scratch teams and playing polo in the morning on the…
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