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I knew it was a bad idea missing the AGM - the best way to get lumbered with a big job is not to be there when it's handed out! But I had the best possible excuse (I was away paddling - see later this issue), and - seriously - it seemed like a fair return for all the support I continue to get as a novice on the water.
First I'd like to thank Mike Allen for all the work he's put in producing 34 issues in the last six years (and in helping me with this one!). The newsletter has been getting broader and more interesting, a trend I hope will continue. MCC is a big club, with a wide range of paddling activities: slalom, wild water racing, polo, river touring, even a bit of sea touring, at all levels from novice to expert. We all share the newsletter, and the more it represents us all, the better. That includes activities outside, as well as inside, the official club structure. My "editorial policy" can be roughly summed up as "the more the merrier". So please send in your contributions! Even a few lines can keep others informed and interested. The newsletter can only be as good as what you write for it.
Please let me know if there are any changes you'd like to see - I'm open to any constructive suggestions. I've organised this issue (after the AGM report) into Notices of future events, Reports of past events, and General items. One other immediate change is the advance publication of copy dates for future issues. It's always sad to receive, and sadder to publish, notice of events which are over before you find out about them. Proposed copy dates for 2001: 1 May, 1 July, 1 September, 1 November.
Finally, sadly, may I ask that in the face of the Foot and Mouth epidemic we all think twice about where we go to paddle. At the time of writing, the club site is open but only on our side of the river, and the farmer asks that you not let dogs out on the site. The canals are closed completely. The Scotland trip planned for later this month has been cancelled. Who knows what the situation will be by the time you read this. Whatever you may think of the restrictions, please respect them. Let's all act - and be seen to act - as responsible users of the countryside.
PS - at the moment I can comfortably handle contributions in printed text, plain text email, and MS Word files on disc, but not formatted attachments in email. I hope to fix this before too long, but for now, please bear with me and stick to those three.
I quite seriously thought my days of writing chats were over. It's a sad thought that we came to an AGM and couldn't find either a Chairman or a Treasurer. I've taken the job on for one year, which I shall remind you of fairly often so that the club has every chance to find a replacement. Just looking at the committee, the chairman, secretary and treasurer boast near 200 years between them while the rest of the committee are hovering round forty mostly from the wrong side. We have all been canoeing for a few years as well. OK so experience is great but if you want a forward looking dynamic club we do need a committee that's going to make it that way. Get the message? Where have all the young men/women gone?
Being a bit brighter I've tried hard to keep my sympathy for the flood victims in place while getting out more on a consistently high Goyt. It seems to have gone down now and I was shocked when another member said that he thought it had been a rotten winter for touring because of all the bad weather.
Just to prove that there is some life left yet, Dave reports that after yet more trials and tribulations the Lottery application is moving again. We will keep you in touch, maybe we should think about how to celebrate, or is this looking too far ahead?
Last year we did well in the first two events of the Club slalom series and then let it all fall apart at the last. These are events in which anyone can enter and the results of beginners count for as much as those in Div 2. Part of our problem is that we tend to get our slalom beginners promoted too quickly and struggle to find the beginners for later events. Paul says he will have it all sorted this year. (See also Roy Bradshaw's piece later in this issue - Ed.)
Our new editor is a comparative newcomer to the club and has lots of ideas about what should be in the Newsletter. I expect that she might drop a few hints in the editorial. One aspect that doesn't get enough use is the free ads offer. Want to buy a boat or sell a paddle? Stick it in the newsletter. If you know anyone who has a boat rotting in the garage encourage them to put it in: we won't charge non-members. Every year we have a crop of beginners looking for a cheap boat to start in and you will really be helping them by unloading that old boat.
Talking of beginners: do bring them down to have a go. If you don't feel confident to teach them yourself there are lots of people about who will help.
PS Foot and Mouth has arrived. As of the moment that I write the site is still open but you should not land on the opposite bank.
The AGM has taken place and for the great majority who didn't get there, here's a very brief report.
We were in some confusion as we had no candidates for the post of Chairman or Treasurer. This was overcome by Pete King offering to stand for 1 year only and Paul offering to continue as Treasurer till April. Other notable retirees were Mike Allan from the Newsletter and Janet King from Competition Coordinator. All three have been in office for some years and done sterling service. On with the new. Paul will be Competition Coordinator with Janet remaining i/c Quinzaine. Dave Higson takes over Polo and Mary Wood the Newsletter. If you want to know all the rest the Yearbook should be out very soon.
There was a lively discussion about tours and touring centred on Angus's proposal for a self-assessment scheme which you will see in the Yearbook.
Since the AGM Richard Scaife has undertaken the role of Treasurer.
The Dale Road site has suffered the ravages of winter and before we have our first Slalom on April 7/8th, we need to do some housekeeping. Essentially some path and step repairs, possibly some tree removal, hopefully getting wires back up (with practice gates) in the bottom pool and if anyone feels warm enough replacing the rolled over gabbions. Just to show that we are not short of jobs anyone wanting something a bit lighter could paint the gates and containers. We rightly rely on those who use the site to do most of this work, which is beyond the day-to-day grass cutting and path building and repair that Allan does through the year.
Ring Paul and offer to help or just turn up. (If you offer in advance you may well be able to bag the job you fancy!!)
We've received this attractive invitation from Barbara Gordon:
Ribble are trying to improve the number of slalom coaches, now dropped to a very low level as a number of the older paddlers are retiring from the sport. So, we have arranged a training course to try and bring on some more coaches. It will be run by John Sturgess, the England Slalom team coach. It is aimed at anyone interested, from parents who don't paddle, currently provide transport and end up just standing on the bank, to those aiming for Level 3+.
Format as follows: One off Single day dry session for everybody, to ensure everyone covers the basic theory. This will be followed up by bank tuition / support from John, which would be arranged as convenient to the individuals concerned, either at club training sessions or events or whatever. Ribble has a slalom training weekend organised at Mile End Mill, so he has said that he will come down to that this year, and his bank follow up with most of the participants can be arranged for then.
Those who have been coached before by John say that he is a good presenter. Talk will be supported by video analysis etc.
Dates: One day Dry session: Sunday 25th March, at BAe Warton Sports & Social, just outside Preston
Mile End Mill Weekend: 4th-6th May . MEM is currently still open, and we are hoping that this weekend will go ahead as planned, as the BCU are relaxing their restrictions on sites that can be accessed directly from public areas.
Cost: £15 at most, probably less.
If anyone from Manchester is interested, they are very welcome to attend. (maybe including paddlers who don't wish to coach but would like to understand the sport better?)
Anyone looking for more info/ background can email or phone myself (Barbara Gordon)
An ever-popular event for those who have got in some winter training as well as those who haven't!! Division 4 is the entry level for slalom and anyone with a reasonable competence at paddling the Goyt site and getting through the gates should have a go. This is a double event so there is a full program each day.
Apart from entering Dave is looking for support especially to get the course up starting at lunch-time on Friday. We need help through the weekend to do all sorts of jobs and will provide training in any of them. There's Judging, Start and Finish, Control, Campsite and Parking, Canteen even emptying the toilets. Don't forget that we need to alter the course on Saturday evening and take it down on Sunday. (If you want the experience but don't want to enter the event you can help run it and enter the "officials event" for free (knew that would get you) and see how you compare with the ranking paddlers.
Full competition calendar on back cover
Monday evening all-ability baths sessions have finished for now, but regular team training sessions are continuing, and new participants are welcome, including non-MCC members. Contact Carole Dean (Tel: 0161 456 6748, Mob: 0779 886 7779) or Dave Higson for details.
Tuesday evening paddles on the club site should have re-started by the time you read this, initially under the floodlights. You're welcome to join us (on the river from about 7:00pm, and / or in the Navigation from about 9:00pm). Club boats are available for use. Do bear in mind, though, that floodlit paddling is a bit of an adventure at first - reading the river at night is a completely different skill! - and novices should probably wait until there is more daylight (and more people around to help).
Traditionally the Wednesday evening tours start soon after the clocks go back, as soon as there's enough light to be worth going out with a 6:30 or 7:00pm start. Typically these are easy, low-key, mainly social events, paddling a canal or an easy river and going on to the pub - ideal for beginners, or old hands who are out of practice (!). Last summer the weather largely wiped out the programme, but a few of us did have some highly enjoyable evenings. This year, we will have to wait and see how the Foot and Mouth access restrictions develop, but when they lift, we hope to organise more outings, for more people (if you don't want to paddle, you're still welcome to join us in the pub!) For details, contact Mary Wood by phone (449 8232) or (preferably) email (mary@cs.man.ac.uk).
It was a snowy start to the Manchester Canoe Club's New Year Walking Weekend. These are the (ancient) guys dad grew up with and their partners and kids. 1 think our dad's the only one that's been in a kayak in living memory, but then he's just stupid.
He made us grit the lane at home so he could get the car out the night before. Then we dragged all the kit and food down the same lane on sledges. Yes, he's stupid alright. When we got to- the Lakes, guess what, we dragged all the kit and food a mile up hill to the hut. Dad carried his mega rucksack full of really heavy stuff, but we know why that is, don't we.? He seemed really.cheerful, but then he is pretty... you've guessed it!
We went for a cracking walk in the sunshine and the snow over Sheffield Pike and round some mines. We nearly built an igloo but it kept collapsing. Dad said it was the wrong type of snow but he works for the council so it was probably just an excuse!
On the next day we went for another walk in a blizzard. It was going dark when we finished, and nobody really seemed to know where we had been. Even dad's friends with the GPS were puzzled, but we did recognise Ullswater on the way down when we were virtually standing in it.
Then it rained and washed away the snow so we could collect our kit using the car. We all reckoned dad was disappointed because he seemed to enjoy using the sledge. We know why that is, don't we?
I can't honestly say I'm sorry I missed the AGM, because at the time I was making a seven-mile sea kayak crossing from the Caribbean barrier reef to the mainland of Belize, and mainly sorry to be nearing the end of a week of self-contained coral island-hopping, in tropical sun and warm two- to four foot seas.
You could say plans had gotten out of hand. I had determined that I was going to get away from the winter dark this year - somewhere, anywhere sunny. Then I realised it could be a sea paddling trip. Slowly, inexorably, my investigations led to a week off Belize, with a Canadian company, Island Expeditions.
I arrived a day early, with time to explore Belize City and some of the surrounding Maya ruins and wildlife reserves. It's an extraordinary country, exuberantly proud of its cultural and environmental richness. I felt as if I was walking around inside a National Geographic feature article! Flying low over the palm forests and coastal lagoons, I landed at Dangriga airstrip - literally a strip hacked out of the lush vegetation - and joined the return banquet for the previous week's tour group, 13 noisy Americans dancing to the local Garifuna drummers. What had I let myself in for?
Next morning our group assembled. A laid-back Canadian guide, a laid-back Garifuna fisherman, two Canadian couples, and myself. By the time a small motor launch had ferried us - and a week's worth of fresh food and water, and a couple of spare kayaks - off shore to our first island camp, we were all comfortable together. As usual, they were the better "adventure travellers", I was the better technical paddler. Canadian Mary was prepared to tolerate paddling in order to go snorkelling, I was prepared to try snorkelling for a chance to paddle. No problem.
The only real problem, in fact, was the sand flies. Never talk to me about midges in Scotland! These things could eat you through a full head-and-body-armour bug jacket. They haunted everyplace in clouds, most of all the environmentally sound composting toilets. But being woken up at 3:00am by a giant land crab trying to batter its way into my bag of paddling gear was pure entertainment.
We alternated day trips from one campsite with open crossings to the next. The two couples had doubles fitted with sails, and enjoyed the trade winds. The first big crossing was the roughest, in choppy confused seas; we were all heavily loaded with food and gear (including, in my cockpit, not only two full water bags, but a giant loose watermelon). A single is expected to "barnacle" on a sailing double, giving outrigger support to the double, and a free tow to the single; but sitting low in the water and pulled off balance, waves constantly crashing over the deck and in through the spraydeck, was outright frightening, and I soon broke loose, and happily paddled single for the rest of the trip.
As the days went on, we learned the rhythm (and drank the water and ate the melons); the boats and the sea became more and more like home. One night a cruise ship anchored nearby, lights and music blazing, and we were torn between annoyance at the intrusion, and pity for the poor souls who were cut off from the myriad stars overhead, the myriad hermit crabs underfoot, and the pleasure of a supper of fresh-caught fish and a sleep earned by hard physical and mental work. By day, we played with the waves - if you got it wrong and got wet, it was a welcome relief from the heat of the sun. If you got it right, there's no better feeling in the world.
It had to end, of course. I stayed in Belize for another four days, inland in the mountains and the tropical rainforest with toucans and armadillos, and paddled an open Canadian a couple of times on a spectacular Grade I/II river, giant orange iguanas basking on cliff faces and tiny blue-green kingfishers skimming the water surface. Anglesey will never seem quite the same again.
The weather was fine but the river incredibly low which was a shame considering the excellent levels that we have been having. As well as a Quinzaine event this was also a ranking event and some of the ranking paddlers went down very fast indeed considering that they know the river less well than most club members. Richard and I both stopped off to help, myself briefly twice and Richard for longer. Maybe we should ask for a rematch.
Veterans | ||||
| 1 | Paul Kelly | R | 10.27 | 20 |
| 2 | Dave Higson | R | 10.27 | 19 |
| 3 | Pete King | S | 13.15 | 18 |
| 4 | Richard Scaife | S | 16.32 | 17 |
| Senior Men | ||||
| 1 | James Corden | R | 9.57 | 20 |
| 2 | Tim Meyrick | R | 10.49 | 19 |
| 3 | Ashley Dack | R | 11.53 | 18 |
Minime | ||||
| 1 | Jon Aldridge | S | 15.05 | 20 |
Benjamin | ||||
| 1 | Tim Aldridge | S | 13.11 | 20 |
C2 | ||||
| 1 | Cooke/Bradshaw | R | 12.09 | 20 |
| Junior Lady | ||||
| 1 | Ruth Wells | S | 14.3 | 20 |
The club has several boats which are kept mainly at Hazel Grove Baths, Broughton baths and Marple for use on those sites.
What seems less well known is that there are also a number of boats that can be hired by the day or week for use anywhere. These include 2 playboats, a Fox slalom boat, 2 Wavehoppers (white water racers) and an Open Canadian ideal for family use on not too rough water. They are there to be used, you will find particulars in the Yearbook.
I (PK- ed.) have leamt that Derbyshire County Council are willing to offer financial support to those taking recognised coaches courses and exams who intend to then teach at Marple. They recognise MCC as providing the canoeing facility for the High Peak area and as such will support non-residents who are instructing at the site. This seems a most generous offer. Get in touch with me and I can pass you on to the right people.
We steadily get invited to appear/supply posters literature or run "have a go" sessions at events round the area. Two current ones are International Women's Day at Glossop and a weekend at Whaley Bridge in June. We did support Marple Carnival last year and used to in the past.
I (PK- ed.) would like to hear from anyone who is willing to Organise our presence or literature at such events or to be there on the day. Also anyone who would like to provide a poster or display which generally says what a grand lot we are. The purpose is twofold. We may collect some members and we should try to generate goodwill wherever we can. You never know when such contacts will pay off when we want something. (At the moment SMBC will have to be pretty appealing as their attitude seems to be to be ready to ask for our support but don't get round to even answering letters when we ask. Phone calls usually find people in meetings who either don't call back or are unhelpful when they do.)
Please contact me or any committee member.
At most competitions held on the site we run a canteen selling drinks and hot and cold food. We are always looking for people to help with this rewarding and profitable work. If you feel able to spare an hour or two at a slalom to sell biscuits, serve hot drinks, or cook bacon butties, you will find your efforts greatly appreciated!
Any one who would like to take overall charge at a particular event will be very welcome and I will look after the ordering of food etc and help in any way possible. Give me a ring if you want to know anything more.
Janet King 01663 746690
Having been telling the Executive and other members of the Slalom Committee for the past ten years that we needed to do something to counter the decline in Slalom, it was both frustrating and satisfying to hear them say "Slalom is in Decline, what can we do about it?" It was equally frustrating, but par for the course, that the member of the Exec. making this statement was "too busy" to stay to listen to any discussions on the matter.
The good news is that the Club Series some of us have been promoting over the years has been released from the shackles that have been holding it back and now we are to encourage other clubs to consider running their events under the Club Series banner.
The Club Series is a system whereby every member of a club can attend the same event and have a weekend's competition with, of course, a sociable weekend away. What other reason do you join a club for? This year there are three definite, Marple June 16th & 17th, Stone July 21st & 22nd, and Middleton October 6th & 7th. We are hoping to persuade a few more clubs to run additional events. Last year we had a good turnout for Marple & Stone and had a couple of great weekends. Middleton we needed a few more although those who were there still thoroughly enjoyed the event.
Those of you who are already involved in Slalom but have not committed yourselves to the Club Series, I am making a plea for you to take part. Not for my sake or even for the sake of the Club Series, it is for your sake and your Slalom future.
To be successful, Slalom events need many competitors and many helpers. The problem is you need almost as many helpers to run an event for 10 paddlers as you do for 100. Although we can accept fewer paddlers, the helpers decline in the same
proportion as the paddlers. Those few that are left are not going to spend an arduous weekend just for ten paddlers. We must get more paddlers to events.
Here in Manchester we are aiming to improve our Club facilities. We have an ideal site for the introduction to Slalom and the running of lower divisional training and Slalom events. Used in this fashion it provides an excellent introduction to greater White Water skills. I suspect there are other clubs with similar facilities. Unfortunately the majority of today's paddlers are lured into buying highly curvaceous playboats or down-river boats. The latter stem from designs produced for the descent of Everest; our little River Goyt doesn't quite match up to the Dudh Kosi and the new paddler finds the river appear to be rather tame. The fact that the Dudh Khosi was first conquered by a Div. 2 Slalom paddler doesn't mean anything to many. This doesn't worry me. What does worry me is that without Slalom there is little attraction for our Club Site and all the other sites of a similar standard.
We can run our baths sessions and teach the initial strokes but soon the new Playboaters want to try their skills elsewhere. Once having tasted the Tryweryn lemming run they soon realise they would be better off in smaller numbers. Having made a few friends they no longer need a club.
There are of course a few self-sacrificing people who will run a club for the benefit of others but most of us want something for ourselves or our club. Competition in general and Slalom in particular held many of these clubs together. If Slalom is allowed to decline further then clubs will decline. Without the clubs the Slalom events will cease. Without the initial training sessions the clubs provide then canoeing will decline, or at least competent and organised canoeing will decline. The manufacturers may still be able to sell the boats but the knowledge on how and where to use them will also decline.
If you have not thought of it before, this is a plea for you to get involved in the Club Series. Remember, it is your future that is at stake.
For more information please contact Roy Bradshaw, 0161 427 7324
