[Richard D]

Cheers Geoff John & I will see you at the Stewpony at 8.45
Think Nigel is coming too but he’ll be at Dobbies

[Richard D]

Well done Geoff and Nigel, great reports as usual and some great pictures and video from Barry. Good to have Ken join us for his first real river trip and good to see him do so well and enjoy it.
Loved the littlest Hobo video Geoff, brought back childhood memories, anyone else remember it ?

[Richard D]

Great day out and it was good to welcome some both old and new paddlers back onto the water. Lots of personal achievements were made and everyone seemed happy and smiling at the end.
Nice river report from Nigel and as ever an excellent bit of footage from the camera men produced and edited by our own Mr Spielberg, Geoff.
Where to next week ?

[Richard D]

Glad to see you guys having a great day and only sorry I missed it. Another great video Geoff just made me miss you guys more, Hampton Loade to Arley with my nephew and his kids wasn’t quite the same !
Very impressed with all the new guys doing remarkably well and as we always say, if you haven’t had a swim you’re not trying !
Looking forward to next week

[Richard D]

Well said Gary a thoroughly enjoyable day even though none of us took on the challenge of the Olympic course !
The legacy course was excellent and 2 hours was more than enough according to my aching body the next day ! As expected Keelan was the only one to get away without a swim, ( Oh and his dad Geoff ). Shame it’s not closer to home as the journey drags especially when there has been an accident on the Motorway adding at least 30 minutes to the return trip.
In my opinion if you have done the Washburn or Vyrnwy gorge you should be ok on the Legacy course. But to run the Olympic course I’d say you need to be more than confident on the upper Tryweryn from the Chipper to Chapel.
Looking forward to seeing some video of the day (with the swims edited out of course ).

• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by Richard D.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by Richard D.
• This reply was modified 11 years, 3 months ago by Richard D.

[Richard D]

Can I suggest if anyone else fancies joining us at Lee Valley on Sunday 11th August and need to book an assessment that they do so asap. The 12 O’clock session is now fully booked and Paul Williams has booked a place for the 1 O’clock assessment.
Me, Rob, Zaf, Geoff, Kee and Paul on the assessment, Gary and Elliot paddling for fun (as they’ve already passed )

[Richard D]

Further to the last message, the assessments are at 1 hourly intervals ie. 10am, 11am, 12 O’clock etc and 8 people can be booked in per hour. I suggest the 12 O’clock slot would be better for us as it takes just over 2 hours to get there and we’ll probably want to have a look at the courses and watch some other idiots first !
So far we have me, Zaf, Rob, Geoff and Kee for the assessment and Gary who’s already passed. 3 spaces left for the 12 O’clock slot.

[Richard D]

Hi Geoff, the assessment costs £10 each and allows you access to both the Legacy course at £5 per hour or the Olympic course at £10 per hour.
Gary and Elliot have been a few times and have passed their assessments. From what Gary has said the assessor will ask you to do a roll at the start in moving water but fairly flat, then progress round the course asking you to make a few eddies and a few ferry glides across moving water, that’s it, I hope !

[Richard D]

Congratulations Nigel sounds like you had a very interesting day ! Wish I could have been there. I know you are away on holiday for the proposed Washburn trip, but can you paddle the weekend of Sat 10th or Sun 11th, I have something in mind.

[Richard D]

Good summary of the day Geoff and great to have you back out on the water enjoying it. No matter how many times we go to Jackfield the different levels always throw up something new and interesting, I always enjoy it there and the pub afterwards !

[Richard D]

Great report Nigel. I had a brilliant day thanks to you guys and the celebratory beer was a great way to end the day. Thanks for shooting the video footage to Rob for capturing Gary and Nigel’s first runs of Bala Mill Falls although I was a little worried at one stage we may have lost our photographer as he spun past me and did half of the falls backwards. Well done Rob for keeping your composure and emerging at the bottom the right way up !
Superb day.

[Richard D]

A very interesting and almost poetic river report thanks Nigel. We were also blessed with a beautiful warm sunny day that tempted Kee and Duncan into some swimming practice ( obviously preparing themselves for future paddles ! )
As Nigel said it was good to see Duncan back on the water and hopefully we’ll see more of him again. It’s great to see all the new guys having so much fun and learning so quickly and all coming off the river with big smiles on their faces.
Hope to see you all again soon.
Well done Elliot in passing his Lee Valley assessment so we have someone to guide us through if we have a club trip down there.
Ideas for next weeks paddle are welcome.

[Richard D]

Had a really pleasant day yesterday just doing our own thing and it’s great to see Nigel and John running Serpent’s Tail with so much more confidence now they have a feel for it. I didn’t quite nail the eddy yesterday and dropped out backwards, always interesting to try a different line, even if it was unplanned !!
Thanks again for the coffee Nigel and I agree it was a privilege that John chose to be with us on his birthday.
Great news about the future of Mile End Mill ( we’ll explain at the pool session on Thursday )
Hope Tim and Mark had a good evening too (We passed them on the A5 on our way home )
Hope the eyes are better now Rich, will we see you at the pool on Thursday ?
How did the MRI scan go Barry ? Can’t believe you have to wait so long for a scan and then they make an appointment for a Saturday afternoon !!

[Richard D]

Number one has to be :-
1. A bolt on whitewater roll ( after missing straightforward rolls on Clywedog, Tryweryn and Banwy !
2. Town Falls Llangolen at several levels
3. All the eddies on the Graveyard
4. Bryntail falls (the right way up ! )
5. Cobdens fall, LLugwy
6. Ton Falls Rhyader ( Wye)

[Richard D]

Great day again Nigel and excellent report. Looking forward to the pool session on Thursday for rolling practice !!

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