The British boating season has returned

Its December and the UK is once again cold and damp.

We’ve been lucky and the wet weather has lined up with a couple of weekends, bringing some of the North West’s finest rivers into condition. At the beginning of the month we were lucky enough to get down the upper Swale at 0.82 on the EA gauge, which equated to some great levels.

Tom Hainsworth on the Swale’s Lower Kisdon

Then this weekend the rain came again and we got down the Keswick Greta, Leven, Clough and Lune.

Beth Hume on the upper Clough (Photo Maddy Boddy)[Rawthey gauge 1.9m]

Me on the Clough’s Lemmings Falls (Photo Maddy Boddy)

With frosts and snow on the horizon, let hope this wet weather continues into the new year.

Yorkshire 3 Peaks

A group of about 20 of us met at Horton in Ribblesdale at 7am to take on the Yorkshire 3 peaks. Climbing Pen-y-ghent, Whernside and Inglebrough.

Dani about to summit Pen-y-ghent

With it being October I was prepared for all weathers, but it turned out to be the hottest October day on record and I was carrying 20Kg! And only 4 of those were water.

On route to Whernside

It took us 11 hours to walk the 26 mile route back to the pub in Horton in Ribblesdale, but it was worth it in the end. The day was organised by Dani Percival, who is trying to raise funds for Raleigh International.

Devon & Cornwall

Maddy & I spent a week down in Devon and Cornwall, staying with friends and wild camping here and there. We had a great time and the weather was favourable throughout.

With the ponies on Exmoor

On the Torr

We went walking on Exmoor and Dartmooor and then explored the Cornish coast by bicycle (not recommended) and kayak.

Paddling out of Tintagel (Photo Maddy Boddy)

We set out from Trebarwith Strand, aiming for Boscastle. But due to the swell and Maddy’s stomach, we stopped at Tintagel for lunch before I paddled off to get the car.

Bude

Pastries for breakfast – Cheese for dinner

I’ve just come back from a week in L’Argentiere, reliving my student days exploring the Hautes Alps province of France and boating in the sunshine. This was my fourth trip to the area and I was still surprised by how much fun I had.

Part of the team on the banks of the Upper Ubaye

The Durance valley didnt have as much water in it as when I have been previously, but this was no bad thing as it forced us to explore some of the other offerings in the area. In my week I managed quite a few personal firsts, with the Fresquire section of the Ubaye and the Grand Canyon of the Verdon being the most memorable. Beth’s headcam footage of the Fresquire can be seen here.

Tom in the Styx, Verdon

It took us 7 hours to paddle the Verdon, with a 4 hour drive either side it was a full day, but most definitely worth the effort. With towering cliffs on either side and rapids that run through caves and underground its like nothing else I’ve ever paddled.

Beth about to drop into the first cave, Verdon

Later in the week there was a bit of rain and we headed to the Guil valley and had fun on the two upper sections and the classic middle.

Katie on the middle Guil’s staircase

Before I knew it, it was time to drive home. 2769 miles is a lot of driving for a weeks holiday, but I’d do it again any time.

A week in the Highlands

I’ve spent a week up in the Scottish highlands enjoying the weather. The sun was shining and at least the dam controlled rivers had water in them. The Garry and the Meig both providing some entertainment.

Beth playing on the Garry

Darragh on the Meig

Other than that we went on a few walks, explored the upper Roy valley, climbed Ben Nevis, had a wander around and float on Loch Etive and cycled some of the Nevis range Witches Trails. A busy fun filled week without one drop of rain!

Maddy and I on the summit of Ben Nevis

Dinner by Loch Etive

Athens

Maddy and I escaped the cold and miserable UK for a weekend in the Greek sunshine. We had three nights in Athens and managed to see the main sights and had a really enjoyable weekend.

The changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier

When we arrived there were strikes on the metro, meaning it was hard to get around, but also there was a dearth of tourists. The strikes only lasted one day and we were soon able to get around the city with ease.

Maddy and I at Temple of the Olympian Zeus, with the Parthenon in the background

A highlight for me was the Panathenaic stadium, its an amazing feat of engineering that you can get up close with, sit in the seats and run a lap of the track.

The Panathenaic stadium

And before we knew it, it was time to go home

Traffic passing the Arch of Hadrian

Not another dry weekend…..

This weekend former Manchester Uni canoe club members met up for a weekend of boating and catching up in the Lake District, and as has become the norm on these type of events there was no water anywhere. We managed to keep ourselves busy and I’m glad to say my boat stayed on the roof of the car all weekend. Friday afternoon saw a walk up Torver beck, where we found a few caves and some interesting rapids with must make moves to avoid the 15m drop into the quarry!

Maddy in one of the quarries, with the Torver Beck fall in the background

Saturday we headed over to Grizedale for a bike ride, unfortunately the West half of the forest was closed due to the Malcom Wilson Rally but we managed to entertain ourselves for a couple of hours in the East.

Chris Lyon

Heading back to the car we went to see if we could get a glimpse of any of the rally cars, we were able to stroll up and stand right at the side of the track watching the cars fly past at about 80mph. It really was quite an experience.

Sunday saw us ghyll scrambling in Church Beck. Its a beautiful little gorge and being able to slide/jump/swim/abseil down it really gave you the opportunity to appreciate it.

Naomi mid abseil

Its only a kilometre long, but we spent most of the day playing our way down to Coniston.

Maddy on the slide

All in all a great weekend. Its nice to be reminded that its doesn’t have to be raining to have fun in the Lake District

Two Classics & Two New Runs:- Another Wet One in the North West

I’ve spent another weekend in my boat. Saturday morning we drove up the Duddon valley and had a great time on the upper section. Its a long time since I’ve paddled the Duddon and we were slightly concerned the level may be a bit high, but it was perfect – kept us on our toes and Wallowbarrow gorge certainly provided that buzzing feeling we all crave.

Beth on the final drop in Wallowbarrow gorge

With the Duddon taking a bit longer than we expected it was getting late in the day by the time we were ready to find something else to paddle. A quick peruse of the guidebook and we saw that Torver beck wasnt far away and at 1km of grade 4 it sounded just the ticket. It was a new run for all of us and good fun, about 4 drops with a few rapids inbetween before you end up in Coniston Water.

Sunday I had a bit of a lie in, but managged to paddle the Wenning for the first time and then a blast down the classic Ingleton Greta at a pretty high level.

Danny Riley on the Wenning wave

Annother great weekend, made even better by still having dry feet at the end of the day – thanks to the new drysuit

Langdon

Last weekend Mads and I walked up Langdon Brook, a Ribble Tributary in the Forest of Bowland. We didnt go far, just upto Langdon castle, which is anything but. An old barn at the junction of a few streams, but the scenery is amazing. Its a very desolate valley and certainly doesnt give the impression your only 20 minutes from the road.

A frosty Langdon valley

When the rain came – Artle Beck and the Roeburn

It rained at the weekend. With the Met office heavy rain warnings all over the news, texts were going backwards and forwards between kayakers around the country and I agreed to meet some friends at the take out for Artle Beck at 7.30am. Being a bit too keen Tom and I were there early and it was pitch black. With the aid of a torch we could see that the river wasn’t as high as we were expecting, to be honest it was quite low. We sat solemnly in my car awaiting the arrival of the others. When they arrived we had another look and to our disbelief it had risen a good 20cm in 20 minutes..We were on!

Me on the Artle Beck weir (Photo Tom Hainsworth)

It was my first run of Artle Beck and its great fun, all of the portages I had been warned about had gone and we paddled all the way down. Its a continuous run with some nice rapids and scenery and reminded me very much of the Roeburn. So at the takeout I only had one river on my mind, and as it was only 10 minutes drive away we shot over to Wray, met some more paddlers and jumped on the Roeburn at about 10.30.

Data from the EA gauge on the Hindburn, this is below the Hindburn Roeburn confluence and the best gauge available for the Roeburn.

Things started out OK, the levels were high and we were blasting down the river in record time. Until I called the group into an eddy above the gorge and the carnage ensued. Of the seven of us, we had two swimmers above the gorge one swimmer in the gorge and me stuck in a tree halfway down! Thanks to the swift rescue efforts of the other three we were successfully assisted and reunited with our kit. Making it down to Wray by about 1pm.

That was it for me for the day, returning to Lancaster in time for tea and medals with the parents. The other guys headed up to the Kent and ran down from Scroggs weir in what sound like enormous conditions.