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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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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15Jun 2025 by Nigel Atkinson No Comments

The Big Paddle Clean Up 2025

News, Recreational, Trip Reports
A huge Thank You goes out to all those who helped with the big paddle clean up of the river Colne on Sunday 15th June. This was, as always, organised and run by our resident Clear Access Clear Water Champion Ian Walker. Along the way Club members, in Kayaks and Open Canoes and armed with gloves, litter pickers and sacks provided by British Canoeing ‘Clear Access Clear Waters' campaign, scoured the river and banks for every bit of rubbish they could find. The good news is we are now finding less rubbish on the river Colne around the Ricky Loop section. After 3 years of cleanups Nomads have made a difference to the local River Colne. 👍 Even so 6 bags of rubbish were collected and taken to the dump!…
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07Jun 2025 by Nigel Atkinson No Comments

Matlock 7-8th June

News, Recreational, Trip, Trip Reports
This was a great weekend run in conjunction with ICC (Ipswich Canoe Club). Weather was great and despite the weather warnings of thunderstorms it remained dry and little wind and the River Derwent provided a great location for those new to moving/white water or for those who just wanting to improve their moving water skills and have a great time. We arrived on Friday and met up with ICC at Barn Farm Campsite (DE4 2BL) to arrange times and places for the weekend’s paddles. In total there were 14 paddlers of all abilities. Sat meet at 10:00 & on water for 10:30am, (6-7 Km trip)Ingress: Near Darley Bridge, Station Rd, Matlock DE4 2EQEgress: Tor Mill House, 204 Dale Rd, Matlock Bath, Matlock DE4 3PT Sun (short paddle, on water 1000am)Ingress: 146 Dale Rd, Matlock…
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27Apr 2025 by Nigel Atkinson No Comments

River Ivel

News, Recreational, Trip, Trip Reports
On a sunny Sunday afternoon in late April a small group paddled the River Ivel from Sandy to Tempsford in Bedfordshire. Ian Walker led the trip as he has done several times before. It was a small group of 4 this time with Chris, Anton, Rob & Ian. We set off to get to the first sloping weir, this only after 20 mins paddling in the sun, we took the old mill stream river, which a right fork instead of going down the sloping weir. This was pretty paddle with no blockages at this time of year and then ran the old mill race fast at the end back into the main river, Fun! After an hour or so paddling, then it is the big high drop of nearly 2 metres in height. After an off water inspection, 3 of us ran it, with Anton deciding not to tempt his luck and did a high seal launch portage around instead.  After yet…
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23Mar 2025 by Nigel Atkinson No Comments

Nomad River Clean-Up Sunday 23/3/2025

News, Recreational
Thanks to the awesome six (Graham, Dan, Anton, Martin, Hannah & Rachael) who joined up with Ian to help collect loads of rubbish up today . We cleaned the Canal up to Tesco's, Upper river Colne Loop down & Hannah & Rachael scoured the Canal & river banks and filled 3 big bags full. The paddlers collected another 5 big bags bin bags full. So 8 bags in total. The plan was to paddle & clean the whole river loop, but this was shortened to just cleaning the top Colne loop for three reasons: We found lot more waste than I expected 😒 Anton had a small incident at the 2nd weir: he played in stopper went in and then did well to roll up, but then went over again…
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