WKCC » River Trips

Sunday 16th October River Trip

gpt27 — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 22:32:32 +0000

Due to very low water levels on the Upper Teme we will postpone this trip until later in the year. Instead after much deliberation and input from various people we have settled on an ideal local trip on the lower Teme and then joining the Severn to get a few miles paddling under our belts before the Canal Barn weekend. It’s about 4 to 5 Adam miles from Bransford Bridge down to Kempsey.

The plan will be to meet in the lay-by on the A4103 Bransford Road just before the bridge. This is on the left if you are heading from Worcester. We will need to be there ready to paddle by 10:00 a.m. please.

It’s a nice winding section of river that we can all practice our group skills.

You can see the start point on the attached Google map link.

Bransford Bridge Meeting Point

Please contact Graham on 07876335797 before 13:00 on Saturday to confirm if you are coming. Also let us know if you need any kit as we may be able to arrange for some on this occasion.

Cheers
Graham
Chairman, Web and Comms

Lugg Trip Report by Oli

secretary — Mon, 03 Oct 2011 19:57:06 +0000

Sunday 03 October 2011 – Leominster to Hope-under-Dinmore

The sun shone bright as we left early for our day trip on the River Lugg.

Dad drove, en route, picking up Adam and Liz. We arrived safely at the car park at 9.30am.

18 of us in all { Dad, me, Adam, Liz, Clive, Graham, John, Jules, Richard, Paul, my mate Harry, Rita, Claire, Wendy, Jane, Matt, Caroline, and not forgetting Tim, had turned up for a fun day .

Due to the dry spell we have had recently, {not knocking it!} the river level was lower than expected. The group was then divided into two separate smaller groups.

This day was going to be the ideal opportunity for Harry and I to work towards our paddle power . My group took the lead, attempting to chase Clive as we went!

We all took turns in leading the way along the route, avoiding many obstacles.

Wendy, decided to take the on foot approach, and Clive was attempting a daring approach by jumping over a tree and narrowly escaping getting wet!!

Lunch, was a welcome stop managing to eat our sandwiches without the swans stealing any.

After lunch, feeling refreshed and full, the water level became deeper which should have helped, but all were slowing down at that point. My arms were really aching .

At the finish line, to my amazement Adam was in a hole in the bridge.{unbelievable!}. He then proceeded to seal launch, closely followed by Graham and Clive, by becoming the nearest thing to a human submarine.

Feeling very tired we packed up around 3.30pm. On reflection a brilliant day out. A world record I was in bed for 9pm.

Oli Moore.
Photos by John Heath

Sunday 2nd October – River Lugg Trip

gpt27 — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 19:07:22 +0000

This Sunday, 2nd October, there is a trip on the river Lugg. It is an ideal trip, essential first river, for those that are going on the Canal Barn weekend away at the end of October as well as those people who are looking to do their first river trip. The Lugg is an ideal river to have a go at with lots to do.

This link, click here, is a map of the trip, please do not be put off by the weirs, the level at the moment is low, this link is to the environment agency and if you look at the current level and the usual level you will see what i mean.

These are previous trips we have done on the Lugg, here and here.

If you are interested in going on the trip please let Graham know this Thursday at the pool sessions as we just need to do some planning and sort kit out.

The weather is still a bit mild but you should plan on it being colder than you expect, the weather can change and the temperature only needs to drop a few degrees, think about what you will wear and lunch. There will be an announcement in the pool on Thursday, so listen out, but if you have any questions please ask them on Thursday.

The Lugg is one of my favorite local rivers and whatever the level it is a really nice, scenic river with wildlife and interesting things.

Clive Pearson

Note that you may need sun tan cream (in October!) – Graham

River Teme – Knightwick to Bransford 15th May

chairman — Mon, 16 May 2011 09:06:11 +0000

It’s no wonder we are all feeling tired after our 4 hour paddle today. Well done to all as on Google maps it works out to be 7.4 miles or 11.9 kilometres in new money.
It’s a long winding paddle with quite a few interesting corners and tricky flows to negotiate all to keep us on our toes.

Thanks to Paul for organising, Wendy for leading and very well done to Ross who managed the whole journey unaided.

4 Star Part 2

Clive — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 08:19:40 +0000

So breakfast was had at 7am and it was off to Totnes. I arrived in good time and got changed and my boat and kit sorted. We did a shuttle to Stoke Gabriel and then it was onto the river. In all there were 8 of us including the instructor, Gary (there will be a separate piece on Gary as the conclusion). Most of them were working within the outdoor sector in one way or another.

We set off from Totnes at about 10am and headed down stream. At this point the river is tidal and the tide was on it’s way out. Gary starting imparting knowledge and wisdom from the off and it was very interesting. Different forward paddling techniques, other ways of looking at things, as well as a bit of navigation and map reading. We reached Ham Point, the location of our Dart overnight trip in late September 2009, and then started looking at rafting and group control and management.

After this we then headed down the the inlet by Stoke Gabriel and had a break on the head land. Hot drink and a snack was very welcome, it was at this Point that Laura, the only female in the group, produced a cake. Yep, a full on large cake with enough to go round, it was most welcome.

By now the tide was at its lowest, and it would only be a short while till it turned. We headed off and did a bit more group control and group dynamics then headed off across the estuary, south of Stoke Gabriel and set up some sailing rigs. This was very interesting. The only sailing I had done was simple down wind stuff and this was using 2 boats, 3 poles and a lot of rope (Adam would have been right at home). We paddled out into the flow and the hoped the wind would pick up, which it did but only for a short time. So we sailed back to Stoke Gabriel, stopped at the top of the inlet and derigged the sail kit.

It was nearly the end of the day and it was clear what was coming next, rescues. It is the beginning of March, the temperature was about 4 or 5, we were on the Dart estuary and we were going to do rescues. We did this in pairs as an all in from a rafted up position. After a bit of a chat about rescues we headed up the inlet to the cars. Got changed, loaded up, a wrap up chat and confirmation of the meeting point for Sunday at we were done for the day. It was 6pmwe had been on the water for some 8 hours and it had been a great day.

So I headed back the the River Dart Country Park to hang up my kit, have a shower, eat and have a beer or two before bed. Really looking forward to the lower Dart on Sunday.

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Sunday 26/02/11 Knightwick

Clive — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 11:55:56 +0000

We will meet at Knightwick Weir at 10am and then paddle upstream for an hour or so, and then back again, finishing with a play at Knightwick Weir. Click here for location. Kayaks and Canoes welcome. Contact Paul C for details and to let him know you are coming.

Sunday morning paddle

Clive — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:44:20 +0000

It ended up as 8 of us on Sunday Morning, Richard W, Jane, Ed, Oliver, Nick D, Ross, Wendy, and me (Clive). Richard & I were in canoes and the rest were in kayaks. We set off and the river had a bit more of a flow on it than expected. We headed off upstream to Wyre Weir, using the eddies and looking for the slack water and paddling from side to side. After some 45 minutes we arrived and I was somewhat surprised to see a Hay Stack coming off Wyre Weir.

We paddled over to the bottom of the lock, navigating the fast moving water, using the eddies, everyone did really well here, and we walled round the island to have a look to see what was causing the Hay Stack but there was nothing visable. The height of the Hay Stack was about 3 foot high. There was a lot of flow and a lot of power in the water.

After looking around for a bit we headed back, across the fast water at the bottom of the weir then back down stream. Needless to say the paddle back did no take long at all.

Mid Wales Weekend Away

Clive — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 20:24:54 +0000

On the weekend of 28 & 29 October 2011 we are going to Mid Wales for what should be a great weekend. The barn has been booked and it is time to pay deposits as places are limited. Please give you £10 per person deposit to Ed by the end of February.

If you are interested at having the details of the accommodation then check out their website, www.canal-barn.co.uk.

Morning Paddle

Clive — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 16:09:45 +0000

Sunday 20/02/2011, do you fancy a short paddle on the Avon from PRSC to Wyre Weir and back? Meet at PRSC at 9.30am and we will paddle up to Wyre Weir and back. Contact Clive on 07725 323393 if you are coming.

4 out of 8 got wet

Clive — Sun, 13 Feb 2011 21:20:27 +0000

A Wet Sunday morning 8 club members met at Leominster , car park by the Fire station. Clive, Wendy, Caroline, Matt, Nick D, Claire, Richard W and myself (Eddie). We sorted out kit and the car ferry very quickly and everyone was on the water by 10, soon we came to the first weir all shot it successfully, we were all in good spirits winding our way down river, dodging fallen trees than we came to another weir. Richard went first shot it well, then went Nick who missed timed his breakout and got sucked and went back in to the weir. Clive went into rescue Nick , as Clive got closer nick decided to grab Clive’s paddle and throw it away, so now we had 2 swimmers in the weir, eventually we managed to rescue boats people than it was Matts turn to shoot the weir. He also went in for a swim so another rescue was needed. Just before lunch Nick took another swim but this time he tried to hold his breath for over 5 minutes??? but gave in.

After lunch yet another weir this time I tried to break out too soon and got my support stoke all wrong and ended up swimming from there on we paddled to the finish point without any other incidents we all had a good time thank you Eddie.