2011 02 newsletter

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Volume 35 Issue 2 ~ February 2011

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Frome Canoe Club is affiliated to the British Canoe Union and is a Registered Charity (Number 1104728)

New Year’s Day - Frome Trip

Where did 2010 go? Oh well, if time is passing that fast, make the most of it and paddle when ever you can.

So 33 paddlers with varying degrees of fatigue and hang-overs from the night before, met at the Clubhouse on an overcast but warm (well not freezing) morning. We checked the river to find that the water was in its liquid form, so better than Boxing Day; we put the ice breakers away and sorted kit. With everyone suited and booted (even Alun had a lid), we set off for Woolverton. All boats and most of the kit was piled up in the field. Kate

FIRST SWIM OF THE YEAR

3 points each: yes that’s Ben (L) in the water looking surprised, and with him, hiding from the camera is Jaz. Not bad going, you two!

Continued on P10

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FCC ‘THROWLINE ’ CLUB MAGAZINE

COPY DATE FOR THE NEXT ISSUE 26th February Please send items to [email protected]

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President

Graham Warnecke

Vice Presidents

Richard and Jane Arney

Jim and Catharine Croft

The new committee is up for election at the AGM on

February 9th

Do come and give your

support. See P5 for details

CONTENTS

Page

Committee details/Contents 2

Calendar in brief 3

Details - Barle trip 4

Details - Usk trip 4

Details - Exe trip 5

Details - AGM 5

Club sessions 6

Report - Dart Loop 7

Report - Lower Dart 8/9

Report - New Years Day Paddle 10/11

Report - Social 12/13

Report - Work Party 14/15

Diary Dates - advance notice 13

Slalom info 15

Points debate 16

Waterfall jumping 17

Bits and Pieces 18/19

Copper Nose Points 19

LOOK HERE: If you ever find you're in that unfortunate position of having lost some kit on trips .... If you do lose any kit, you can try putting it onto the UK rivers guide. Tim did this for Sam’s camera, after Sam lost it on the Upper Dart. He asked if anyone had found it. A kindly stranger replied saying they had seen one on the bumblebee auction site which is where the police auction off lost property that isn't claimed. If you can prove that the kit is yours the it can be returned to you without charge.

Ed: Sam apparently there is a GoPro camera there. Is it yours?

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Calendar 2011

Date Event Standard Contact

February

9 Annual General Meeting All Pam D

13 River Barle 2 Star + Rich C

23 DVD Wednesday All Pam D

27 Sunday Morning Paddle All Rich C

27 River Usk 2 Star + John K

March

13 River Exe 1 Star Alun J

23 Coaches’ meeting Coaches Rich C

27 COME and TRY IT - Slalom All John K

27 Sunday Morning Paddle All Rich C

30 DVD Wednesday All Pam D

April

2 North Walls Slalom, Div 4/O All John K

8 Last Pool Session All Pam D

10 River Frome All John K

9-16 Scotland trip 4 Star + Pam D

20 Wednesday sessions start All Pam D

24 Easter Egg Hunt All tbc

29 Langham Farm sessions start Adults John


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Calendar in detail - river trips


The River Barle 13th February Meet at the Clubhouse, 8am Cost £10 Organiser - Rich Carter

A beautiful river on Exmoor. We get in at the famous Tarr Steps and pad-dle the 7 miles to Dulverton, downhill all the way!

Likened to an alpine river with its clear water and gorge section, it has rapids and play spots all the way down. A grade 2 river, it is easier than the Loop but just as nice.

The weir near the end catches out the unsuspecting, but stay in the mid-dle and miss being caught in the trees. And then there are the rapids just before the get out. Exciting.

A lovely paddle to be sure, but you will need to bring plenty of warm clothing and a good lunch. It is often freezing when we do this river!

River Usk 27th February Meet at the Clubhouse, 8am Cost £13 Organiser - John Kent

The River Usk is in South Wales. The stretch we will most likely paddle this time is from Talybont to Gliffaes.

From Talybont after a flat start we encounter two grade 3 rapids at Mill Fall and Spuhler's Folley, although in normal water conditions there are clear routes down the left side of the river. In between are rapids above and below Llangynidr Bridge.

If the river is high we can do the stretch from Sennybridge to Aber-bran which we did in low water back in October, although as always, in high water you have to be more alert. The rapids are straight forward and are a reasonably continuous grade 2. The hardest sections are encountered early in the trip: in the space of a mile, there are three suc-cessive rock ledges, the last being the highest but can be portaged. Both stretches are around 6 miles in length. Remember to wear warm clothes and to bring food and drink.

Ed: for those of you wanting a more gentle paddle, there is a Sunday morning session at the clubhouse today!

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Calendar in detail - trips and AGM


River Exe 13th March Meet at the Clubhouse, 8am Cost £10 Organiser - Alun Jones

This trip is always a favourite. It is the river we paddled when we did the Tiverton weekend.

We will run the section Bolham to Bickleigh, about 6 miles in total, with six sloping weirs in between. The first weir is Bolham weir which has a nasty tow back when there is a lot of water, so depending on water levels we may portage this. Down to Tiverton there are three more weirs, Salmon Ponds (the one with the steps), Tiverton Town and Walronds, with some short grade 2 rapids in between.

Beyond Walronds there are a couple of miles of easy grade 2 and then you get to Broken weir which really is bro-ken these days and you have to avoid being swept into the trees below it. Then onto Bickleigh weir with a play wave at the bottom and this is where we get out.

Ed: This trip is the same day as the Axe Race, and if you want information about that race, look on the internet, or ask Pam for the paperwork that we have been sent.

Annual General Meeting

9th February At the Clubhouse

7.15 for a complimentary

drink

7.30 meeting starts

Minutes for last year’s meeting can be found on the

web site.

Help us to plan for 2011

The AGM is an opportunity to hear what the committee has been doing for you, how we have looked after our assets and how we have spent your money! We also elect the next committee.

Important: coming to the AGM does NOT commit you to being on the committee.

Do come. This is your chance to have your say. We would like to hear your views!

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Calendar in detail - Club sessions

Sunday Morning Paddle Once a month Last Sunday in the month 27th February is the next one

At the Clubhouse, 10am-noon Cost £2

Two things are happening today: the Sunday morning session and the Usk trip. Choose the Sunday morning ses-sion if you want a gentle paddle on the River Frome, an opportunity to get changed in the warm and dry (it always rains at changing times for the Usk) and a chance to take it easy. That’s if we are not iced over as we were round about this time last year! 30 people came last month and we paddled in (relatively) warm sunshine!

Wednesday DVD night Once a month Last Wednesday in the month

23rd February is the next one At the Clubhouse 7pm.

Once a month, on the last Wednesday, we will meet at the Clubhouse for a DVD night.

Who’s got a good DVD we can watch? Let Pam know if you will let us borrow it!

Tea, coffee etc are available from 7pm.


Pool Sessions Every Friday evening, 8-9pm At Frome Sports Centre £2.50 youth, £3 adults

Remember - POOL SESSIONS ARE FOR KAYAKING

So the repeated and deliberate sinking of boats is not encouraged.

Apart from anything else, it puts people’s backs at risk when they empty the boats. Flooded boats are very heavy.

Please use the sessions for kayaking and be prepared to finish your session early if your boat is flooded, to give you time to empty it.

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Reports - Dart Trip, middle section


The Loop Report - 16th January by Rich Carter

All I can say is that we could not have had a more perfect level: you could have sat on a rock all week and not have had a more perfect level. Then what about the weather? A real mild day, so the fingers did not freeze at all. But this may have been a slight false impression because anyone who swam, (and there were just a few swims!), can vouch that the water was still at winter temperatures.

I can confirm that the paddlers were a real keen bunch, even though I did give instructions on the best line, like ‘Go river left’, and they went river right; or ‘Don’t go in to the branches’, oh too late; or ‘Don’t close your eyes you can see better’, but it looks a lot better with the eyes shut!

A good day for all, with a few swims, but for one of our paddlers it was a lot of swims. We all made it to the end: cold, tired, hungry but happy.

The move of the day has got to be Miles (B) following, Gareth down a rapid, on the wrong side of the river. The problem was that Gareth’s glasses were all steamed up and he couldn’t see anything of the river, rocks or waves. Arthur got it right, so Miles ‘You should have followed Arthur!’ Too late.

Ed: today we had 36 paddlers taking part, some on the Lower and some on the Loop. I don’t think we have ever had so many on a Dart trip be-fore. See next page for Pip’s Lower Report, and below are the paddlers on both trips, with their points:

Girls Ellie (3), Jaz (3)

Ladies Becki (3), Debbie, Jane, Linz, Mandy, Nadine (3), Nicky, Pam, and Veronica.

Boys Alex (1), Ben L, Ben M (3), Ben N, George, Joe (3), and Oscar.

Men Alun, Andy, Arthur (2), Carl, Chris H, Gareth, Howard, Ian (6), James H, James S, Jon C (6), Jonathan H (3), Karl, Mark, Miles (17), Pip, Stuart and Tim.

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Reports - The Lower Dart, 16th January


Why do they push me out front? (by Pip)

On Sunday 16th I met up with 16 club members and after all the sorting out we were ready to get on at Austin's Bridge. I do believe in conspiracies, as they all voted that I take the lead...was this because they thought that I would be first to find the dangers and they then would be safe? Oh well never mind, off we paddled.

Mandy, a newish member, was solo in an open boat and really going for it. I bet she would have loved to use her new Little Joe (kayak) on this trip, but for some reason, she open boated today.

Now I think that a competition must have existed for the loudest screams be-tween Debbie paddling with Howard and Veronica paddling with Karl. Every time they hit a series of waves, up went the screams.

Stuart paddled with Nicky, a friend...well after this trip sharing an open canoe... who knows about the ‘friends’ bit!

Ben (Stand Up) Miles, paddled an open boat with Jas-mine having fun all the way down the river, seeing if they could balance standing up as they hit the rapids.

Becki in her kayak, after just 200 metres managed suc-cessfully the first rapid, but the edge of the big eddy showed her how to capsize. Seeing this, Ian who has only paddled the Frome once, decided not to be out-done and promptly also capsized.

Ben (L) with a shaky start, soon got to grips with the river and I could see him coming down towards me confidently paddling with a smile on his face.

Jane got stuck in from the start trying several ma-noeuvres was also seen with a smile on her face, looking relaxed and confident.

Oscar was just himself, taking it all in his stride and bouncing along through the rapids, breaking out and in, just having fun, both on the water and off. Ben and Oscar doing some

botanical research

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Reports - Lower Dart continued


What can I say about Chris Harvey...He’s just Chris, but thanks Chris for all your help with the rescues and of course the shuttle.

Now maybe because it’s her age, being a lady, or not wanting to smudge her makeup, Pam came last to ensure she had a easy trip... no only joking...you know Pam she keeps us all in order and safe.

I think the highlight of the trip was the waves 50 metres below broken weir. They must have been 2ft or more and yes, they bought the loudest screams of enjoyment from everybody. At this point, Ben and Jasmine capsized, followed again by Ian. Oh what a way to finish the trip, leaving everyone with very excit-ing and exhilarating memories of the day's paddle.

So what about me...I just paddled away out at the front ignoring all that was going on behind me, but next time I must remember those ear plugs.

Thank you to all my fellow paddlers who made this trip such a friendly and pleasurable one.

Less than a fortnight till the Barle; so hope to see you then.

Ed: Thank you Pip for this report. You missed out the bit about lunch, when Howie took out the kitchen sink, stove and cafetiere from a giant dry bag in his canoe and brewed up. Shame he forgot the teabags for Pam.

Rich’s account of the Loop on this same day is on P7.

Manoeuvre of the Month

The very skilful way a group of paddlers managed to move the Upper Dart with all its rapids and boulders, to the Loop, so that when they went paddling on the 16

th January they were able to paddle the ‘Upper

section’ alongside those paddling the Loop.

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New Year’s Paddle - continued from front page


was let off paddling with a note from her Mum explaining that she must not be the first person to get points this year, and man flu. So with a fresh box of Kleenex she obliged as a very competent Shuttle Bunny.

To the water! Six open boats and 23 kayaks slid gracefully into the crystal clear waters of the River Frome. We got the obligatory photo of the amassed fleet of the FCC and set off on our voyage of adventure and discovery. A very relaxing meander down the river with heads clearing and conversations of “What did you have for Christ-mas?” and the regular shout of “Coming through!” from the in-experienced open boaters. The first weir was reached. Many a portage was completed success-fully, all open boats made the trip across the field with quite a few kayakers. All kayakers who attempted the weir made it with no points, Jane was noted as the only female to shoot this weir, although she did pull a funny face as she dropped. Ian enjoyed it so much, he wedged his nose into a rock so that he could stay on the face a bit longer! But with a bit of a wiggle he freed himself and joined the rest of us. At about this time Sam Charlesworth fell out of his bed, and there is now a debate as to whether this is worthy of the first three points of the year. (Let the editor know your views.)

Our adventure continued onto Rode without incident and to the next weir, the excitement grew, as we realised it was runnable for all, including the opens. Howard got out of his open to coax the vessel over the edge, however unable to rejoin his crew he abandoned ship and watched helplessly as Deb-bie and Jonathon plunged to almost certain doom, but with obvious natural talent they managed to maintain good control and survived. Howard left

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Reports - New Years continued


stranded on the weir ledge, he helped all of the kayakers over the edge and again they all made it. Were any points going to be scored on this trip? Yes. Al-though 66% of the open boats made it look easy with a gentle push over the edge and a glide into the safe waters below. Jasmine and Ben in their open boat and Alan C however, were a little slow with their support strokes. So a to-tal of nine points were racked up. Now we could all relax. Rescues were com-pleted once the laughing had subsided and we continued toward Langham,

A little scrape of the bottom just past the bridge at Rode and then more gentle paddling with time to observe the wildlife. Two herons and a king-fisher were spotted. Three more points went to Ian as he broke out above the bridge with his kayak being guided to the end by Andy B. We all mustered in the pool before hopping off and sorting out the kit. Karl found his baler in the boot of the car and a couple of open boaters and two kay-akers found that we weren’t at the club house, which unfortunately was where their dry kit was.

All in all, a lovely way to start 2011.

Ed: Thank you Debbie and Howard for this report, and shame on you Sam for not getting out of bed in time for this trip! Howard raises a possibility of points for you, Sam. There is a debate about points and this trip. See P16.

Paddlers and Points Girls Isi M and Jasmine S (3). Ladies Debbie, Emma S, Hazel C, Jane T, Lou B, Mandy J, Megan J, Pam D, Veronica F and Vicky B. Boys Alex B, Ben L (3), Ben M, James B, Jonathan W and William J. Men Alan C (3), Alun J, Andy B, Andrew L, Howard C, Ian J (3), James S, John K, Jonathan H, Karl W, Mike B, Miles B, Peter B, Rich C and Stuart M.

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Reports - the Social

Here are the 2010 prize winners and what they won:

Mandy James was awarded the Steve Allen Trophy, for the most promising newcomer to the club.

George McGiveron was awarded the Youth Cup, in recognition of his progress in kayaking and also for his contribution at club events - the hard work he does.

Stuart Miles received the Ivor Morgan Trophy, for his role in coaching this year and for championing open boating in the club.

Danny O’Gorman was awarded the Langham Trophy for his success at the Langham Farm Slalom. Danny came first on Saturday in Div 4 K1M and then first again on Sunday in Div 3.

John Kent was awarded the Bayman Trophy, for the best result in a National Competition. John is now the highest ranked member in the club: 33 in Division 2, K1 Mens.

Sam Charlesworth and Jack Smiles share the Volunteers Cup, for their con-tribution to the club sessions, taster sessions and the coaching programme.

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Social continued and some advance dates


Alex Nicol got the Editor’s Award, for his regular contributions to the Newslet-ters including the ‘Guess What’ series and ‘What’s New in Kit?’

Jack Smiles - the Coppernose Clip Award, for the most swims in the year 2010. He clocked up a very modest 35 points!

And there was a special mention by our President, Graham, for Kate Johnson, who was awarded a prize for the biggest screams on the river and for hanging onto too many branches.

It was a brilliant event with 75 members and their families turning up, making the atmosphere buzz with excitement as people talked of trips and daring rescues in the past and trips with potential challenges in the future.

A special mention must go to Sally (Jack’s Mum) who raised a cool £84 on the raffle. Thank you to everyone who bought tickets and a big thank you to Sally who extracted money so pleasantly from you all.

Advance notice about some significant dates: get them in the diary!

Easter Egg Hunt 24th April ( Easter Sunday). We are reinstating the popular event which Pip used to run at Langham Farm. Highly recommended!

Langham Farm Slalom 4th/5th June. Our event which is part of the National Series of Slaloms, is good for beginners and old hands alike.

Biblins 25/26th June. This is a camping and paddling weekend which is ca-tered for you. We get to paddle the River Wye on two days.

Market Yard Slalom 17th July. Another slalom based at the clubhouse. Shorter than the one at Langham Farm, this is ideal for beginners and is great fun too.

Summer Barbeque 7th August. And do we want another cardboard challenge? Or something different? Give us your ideas!

August Surfing weekend 27-29th August. Bank holiday weekend so that we can have three days. If your family wants to go for longer to have a holiday at the Cornish sea side, feel free.

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Boat store news - a work party


9th January was the date chosen for a BIG WORK DAY.

Glorious sunshine on a very frosty morning greeted a group of mem-bers who turned up to help Rich lay foundations, all as per Andy’s dia-gram.

Kango hammers, trolley jacks, rollers, pick axes, laser levels, cement mixer... You name it, we had it. George showed us all how to use the Kango hammer. And then he got busy with his toy helicopter which he had brought with him because it was his birthday today. Thank you George for giving up a paddling trip with your dad, to come and work for FCC! The helicopter provided a welcome diversion for the young people until it ended up in one of the clubhouse gutters. Ummm.

With so many helpers here today it was relatively easy. Some did the obligatory standing and looking into the cement mixer with cups of tea in

hand. Others worked hard digging holes and filling wheelbarrows. The debris was wheeled away in barrows only to return, full of children.

We had people sorting out how to move the small container so we could get the foundations in the right

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The work party continued, plus SLALOM DATES


places. Good old fashioned brute

force, with some help from planks, scaffold poles and car jacks did the trick.

At the end of the day it was finished along with the obligatory hand im-prints in the wet concrete, by all the young people present.

And so we have all the foundations done and we are ready for craning in the new container. When is it coming Andy?

Thanks to Ben, Isi, Lily, Max, George, Mandy, Pam, Jonathan, Stuart, Howard and Rich.

John was here today too, but he was not feeling too good so he worked on the club accounts in the warm. Are you surprised he wasn’t feeling well? Balancing books would make anyone feel ill. Get better soon John!

SLALOM NEWS What’s happening this year? ...

Come and Try It session 27th March At the clubhouse An opportunity to have a go in the new boats. Or perhaps to get revitalised before training starts for real on Sunday mornings.

Sunday Morning trainings Starting on May 1st At the Clubhouse Every Sunday morning in May except May 22nd

9.45 - 11am Youth members 11am - 12.45 Adults

Langham Farm Slalom

4th/5th June A Division 3/4 event: good for beginners

Wednesday training Normal Wednesday sessions start on April 20th and the weekly slalom training resumes then.

Youth members: LOOK OUT

for a new training programme on Wednesdays, designed for Pass-port Paddlers. Details in the next Newsletter.

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Debate about the swims on New Year’s Day


Dear Ed

Forget about the points Howard wants to give Sam for falling out of bed late on New Year’s Day and missing the paddle. (P 10)

I need to draw your attention to a more worthy recipient of points. It was at the second weir of the day when we got a little entertainment and a few points were racked up.

One needs to ask whether indeed these 9 points, attributed to Alan, Jaz and Ben were unfairly awarded be-cause the evidence is that both open boats had the (decidedly not) helping hand from Howard. Howie had jumped out and everyone thought ’What a gentleman!’ Both Alan and Ben and Jasmine thought that he was going to guide then safely over, but NO! He gave both boats a little push and a twist (see below), and firmly sealed their destinies. Swimmers!

The question I would like you to consider is: should Howard pick up their points?

If not, I would like to point out that Howard might be eligible for 3 points of his own. It was when he tried to re-unite with his open boat. It was a jack-in-the-box affair: a little hop – no that didn’t work. A bigger jump and hang onto the side. No that didn’t work. Another giant leap and that didn’t work either. The canoe slipped gently away from him, leaving Howard stranded at the top and Debbie and Jonathan nice and gently at the bottom!

Howard was therefore ‘parted from his boat’, which after all, is what happens when you swim. So what do we think? Three points for Howard?

Yours, in the interest of equity, From a paddler who was there.

Does Howard give a helping hand?

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Reproduced by kind permission of

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Bits and Pieces

Yet again, FCC is ahead of the game! We’ve just spotted that the BCU is running a ‘Women and Girls into Paddlesport’ drive and advertising a ‘Pilot’ Female only UKCC level 1 Course. How many years has FCC done Female-only courses? Well we started in 2002, as you can see here one of our leaflets with a picture of Linz on the front. (Linz is in Bolham weir on the Exe.)

FCC has for some now time been aware of the difficulties that some females can face in this male dominated sport of ours. We took note of the research that showed that some females learn better in a female only group. Since then we have offered coaching for women if they prefer it, for example, it is standard procedure at Tivi if ladies want to be together!

SO FCC has been doing it since 2002. Wake up the BCU!

And of course the proof of our success is on the back page! Can you beat a 40% turnout on the New Year’s Day paddle? Have a look!

And we didn’t give up! 2006 featured Linz again in another of our publications! And so it goes on...

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COPPER NOSE CLIP POINTS 1 point for a capsize and roll up 2 points for a technical rescue (ie you would

have swum without help) 3 points for a SWIM

HOW DOES IT WORK? Well, we add up everyone’s points over the whole year. At the end of the year, the person with the most points is awarded that very prestigious Copper Nose Clip. January 1st sees the beginning of the list for 2011. If you're interested in who took this prestigious award for 2010, well ... It was our Jack! SO HOW ARE WE DOING THIS YEAR, SO FAR?

Bits and Pieces

Thank you Stu, for sorting out the trailer lights for us!

Stuart spent a morning on this, one Saturday recently, and managed to get most of the lights working! The off-side rear light on the small trailer how-ever, remains a mystery - it just will not work. (Even Stu’s magic screwdriver didn’t do the trick!)

Attention Prospective Coaches!

Rich would like to hear from you if you are thinking about training as a coach.

Please email him on [email protected]

Miles Benjafield 17

Ian Jones 9

Jaz Shillabeer 6

Jon Cox 6

Ben Lemon 3

Alan Carpenter 3

Ben Miles 3

Becki Fryer 3

Joe Gregory 3

Ellie Howell 3

Jonathan Howell 3

Nadine Robson 3

Arthur Belbin 2

Alex Nicol 1

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www.frome-canoe-club.org.uk

CONTACTS

Chairman: Andy Bell 07966 203309

Vice Chair: Rich Carter 01373 864623 [email protected]

Treasurer: John Kent 01225 765168 [email protected]

Secretary: Pam Dixon 01373 473836 [email protected]

Youth Reps: Julie Middleton 07793 251341 Alex Nicol alexjamesnicol@google mail.com

Canoeing and kayaking are “Assumed risk” – “Water contact sports” that may carry attendant risks. Participants should be aware of and accept these risks, and be responsible for their own action and involvement.

Get all your canoeing

things from the Family

Adventure Store at

Hilperton. BA14 7PJ

Check out the photos of club events or put a comment on the message board!

CARTOON CORNER

I was just minding my own business and this got thrown at me.

Well throw it back at them, I say!

WOMEN INTO THE SPORT

FCC is doing it already!

A 40% turn out for the ladies on this New

Year‘s Day trip. Not bad is it?

2011 02 newsletter

Documents