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

Newsletter

Volume 40 Issue 3: March 2016

Saturday sessions:12th and 26th March, 2-4pm.

Manoeuvre of the month

Rich’s interesting underwater experience P15.

Membership goes up at the AGM, but only by £1

One more pool session at Paulton for canoe polo: 23rd March

Bickleigh weir with it’s multiple infestations (quoting

Andy here!)

Andy, Stu, and Rich all play without getting wet. Graham is safety. Terry and Big Jim get points but the rest of us stay well away! P12 for all the details.

The Tawe Trip - see Alun’s report p10 for a good read. And then see how Pip does this river, p18

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FCC ‘THROWLINE ’ CLUB MAGAZINE

Send articles for the next issue to pam@dixon.org.uk by 27th March

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President

Graham Warnecke

Vice Presidents

Richard and Jane Arney

Jim and Catharine Croft

Chairman

Andy Vowell

Vice Chairman

Gareth McGiveron

Treasurer

John Kent

Secretary

Pam Dixon

16 Blagdon Walk, Frome, BA11 2YH

Committee Members

Rich Carter

Richard Heal

Jonathan Howell

Tracey Lemon

Stuart Miles

Jack Smiles

Kit Officer

Jack Smiles

SmokefreeSports Please help us to promote a smokefree club by refraining

from smoking publicly at all our events.

In this issue

CALENDAR in detail

3 Calendar in brief

4 Rivers Frome and Teign trips

5 Bristol Frome trip

5 Saturday sessions

6 Exeter Canoe Loop

7 Other big dates

SLALOM

8-9 Slalom - what’s happening?

REPORTS

10-11 River Tawe by Alun Jones

12-13 River Exe

14 AGM

15 A Rogue River Frome by Rich Carter

OTHER THINGS

5 Four Star training

16 Water levels and reading gauges

18 Letters from members

19 Bits and Pieces

20 Back page news

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Calendar 2016

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Date Event Who for Contact

March

Frome Leisure Centre remains closed (but we have Polo at Paulton Pool on 23rd Mar)

5/6 Dulverton slalom Div 3/4/O Passport/One Star + John K

6 River Teign Two Star + 10y Andy V

6 River Frome Passport/One star Stuart M

12/13 Four Star Training Paddlers at 3 Star Pam D

12 Saturday afternoon session All Rich C

13 River Axe Race Passport/One Star John K

16 Coaches meeting Volunteers Rich C

23 Canoe Polo at Paulton Pool All Jack S

26 Saturday afternoon session All Rich C

28 Bristol Frome trip All Pam D

April

9 Saturday afternoon session All Rich C

16 Pam D Taster Day for members of the public

18 Monday slalom training starts Slalomists John K

20 WEDNESDAY SESSIONS START All Pam D

24 Exeter Canoe Loop Passport/One star Stuart M

29 Mini slalom (1) All John

Frome Canoe Club: Affiliated to British Canoeing and Registered Charity 1104728

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RIVER TEIGN

6th March

8am at the Clubhouse

Cost £15 Organiser: Andy Vowell

This trip has limited spaces and is pretty full now. So contact Andy if you are interested.

It is a great G2/3 set in a beautiful sheltered forest valley. It has a good variety of features from start to finish – rapids, boulders, weirs with interesting stoppers, a narrow drop or two and the occasional low tree to duck under.

You need to be a good Two Star paddler with plenty of white water experience for this one. And we will be restricting the size of the group to about 10 because of the nature of the river.

Calendar in detail - a two trip day, so you choose!

RIVER FROME

6th March 9am at the Clubhouse Cost £3 Organiser: Stuart Miles

Frome trips are always great! And we don’t have far to travel.

This trip is open to all club members at Passport/One Star standard and above.

You will need to be able to keep warm on the trip so thermals and fleeces are essential. Bring a packed lunch too. The ability to wear a spray deck will give you the oppor-tunity to do the weirs!

You can borrow club kit on the morning.

Stu decides the section we shall paddle on the morning and it will all be water dependent, of course.

Dulverton Slalom 3/4/Open 5/6th March

John is going on the Sunday - contact him if you are interested in

participating. Also look here.

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Calendar in detail

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BRISTOL FROME TRIP

28th March (Easter Monday) 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £5 Organiser: Mike Hill

A joint paddle with WYCC (Melksham) and a chance to do a tunnels trip! This river is not ‘our’ River Frome. It is a river which comes into Bristol from the North, past Frenchay and Eastville, then goes underground and pops up again at the docks. This gives you an idea. The trip is about 5 miles including 1½ miles in the docks. We recommend you paddle in open boats as it is mostly flat water. A head torch is essential for the tunnel bits, also a packed lunch and warm clothes if it’s cool. The get on is Wickham Bridge and we end up in the Bristol docks. There are changing rooms and showers at the finish at the Harbour Masters yard.

And a link to UK Rivers Guide is here

SATURDAY SESSIONS

12th March 26th March

Market Yard, 2-4pm

Cost £2.50 A normal Club session

Four Star Training 12/13th March At Tryweryn £50 for FCC members (POA for non members)

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Calendar in detail

EXETER CANOE LOOP - A TRIP IN OPEN BOATS

24th April 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £12 Organiser: Stu Miles

This is to be a canoe trip so get your kneeling pads out!

Last year we got on at Exeter Quay and paddled downstream on the Exe to Countess weir via Salmon Pool, and then back on the Exeter Ship Canal.

But there are other ‘loops’ we could do. And Stu will choose. Whatever we do it will be flat with some weirs.

We will be in open boats and so we can take barbeque, champers on ice, and the odd canapé. Only joking - no champers or canapés. But there are usually pubs/cafés on the canal sections so we can stop for a coffee.

Probably a distance of about 7 miles with a small portage between the river and the canal. Below is part of a leaflet showing Loop 1, the section we may do. Look here for the rest of the leaflet.

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These are some really good club events-get them in the diary!

Winchester Slalom 15th May. An easy slalom on flat water. It’s great for beginners, and if you are an experienced paddler why not try a C1 or C2 like Su and Kath here? Langham Farm Slalom 4/5th June. Another slalom which is great for begin-ners! And we need help to run this event.

Biblins 25/26th June This is a camping and paddling weekend for our youth members. Leave Mums and Dads at home and enjoy a weekend with the canoe club. We will look after you well!

Market Yard Slalom 10th July. At the clubhouse this time, a nice and easy slalom. And Ben N, the organiser will welcome some help to run this event! 40th Anniversary Celebrations - 3rd September Our club was started in 1976 by Graham (now our President). We are going to have some fun on 3rd September with a cardboard challenge, a polo tournament, BBQ and then a party in the evening. It will be open house all day and a come-when-you-can atmosphere! -

Moving water training weekend 1st/2nd October. A weekend at Tiverton, paddling the River Exe on two days and staying overnight in a youth centre. We work in small groups helping you to gain, or improve your moving-water skills.

Dart weekend 5/6th November. A weekend away paddling the River Dart on both days. With its three levels of difficulty we can provide for a range of abilities.

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Our programme of training and racing starts in April. We focus on introducing new mem-bers to canoe slalom, particularly young pad-dlers. Slalom improves paddling skills and fitness, so it’s good for everyone, especially if you want to progress white water skills and/or levels of fitness in general.

Training sessions on Monday and Wednesday evenings start week beginning 18th April and this leads into a busy schedule of events – see the table p9.

For established paddlers there are other races in the calendar at places like Shepperton, Cardington, Llandysul and beyond.

Some things to remember:

Newcomers usually start in Division 4. When you do well, you get promoted. You build up your skill, and work your way up to bigger water and tougher competition. In Division 4, where you start, it won't be too hard - a rush of water from a weir, or moving water in a stream, (or flat like Market Yard).

When you get to Division 1 it will be big and tricky! ( )

Newcomers can paddle any boat - so choose the one you like best.

The aim is to run a rapid river course marked by "gates" fast, and without touching. A "gate" is two poles, suspended over the water. If they are green and white you pass through going downstream. If they are red and white gates, go upstream through them.

Penalties: if you touch a pole with anything – paddle, boat, buoyancy aid, helmet or yourself - a 2 second penalty is added to your time. If you miss out a gate, or go through in the wrong direction, the penalty is 50 seconds.

Each competitor takes two runs, and the best run counts.

There are classes for Kayak, Canadian Singles, and Canadian Doubles.

Some events include team races, where teams of three boats work together for the fastest possible time.

Some more things to remember:

Entries go on Entry Cards. You can get help to fill those out.

Slalom - what’s happening this season?

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From 18th April, Mondays and Wednesdays

Training starts at Market Yard

Juniors 18:00 to 19:00, Adults / more experienced 19:00 to 20:00.

Friday 30th April First Minislalom at Market Yard

18:00. A 12 gate course with minimum organisation. Prizes include most improved over the series of 3.

Sunday 8th May Grand Team Event at Market Yard

Race in teams of 3.

Sunday 15th May North Walls Slalom at Winchester

This is a Division 4 race and is held on flat water an ideal first race. The Open race is for those already in a higher divs

Friday 27th May Second Minislalom At Market Yard 18:00.

Sunday 29th May Langham Farm set-up

No training, we put up the course ready for next weekend

Sat 5th / Sun 6th June

Langham Farm Sla-lom

A Division 3 and 4 ranking race near Rode, which we organise.

Sat 13th / Sun 14th June.

Ogmore slalom Div 3/4 at Bridgend in South Wales.

Friday 1st July Third Minislalom At Market Yard 18:00.

Sunday 10th July Frome Market Yard slalom

A Div 4/Open event which we organise.

If bibs are not being used put the number you have been given on your boat (use sticky tape).

You start in number order. Watch others at the start, and be there when your turn comes

Try to get through all the gates - in the right order!

When you've finished, wait for two more people to finish before you get off - it's your turn to do safety duty.

You can find out more about canoe slalom on www.canoeslalom.co.uk

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River Exe and Exeter Ship Canal Throw Lines on the Tawe

mean an absolutely safe investment evolved from this practice. In fact, this streamlining may have given British warships the edge over the French and Spanish fleets in the Napoleonic Wars.

The Glyntawe to Abercraf section is, in high water a grade 4 stretch and the rainchasers’ guide suggested the level was at 0.91 which is a medium level.

We started the trip at the country park where the gauge on the small weir was at 6.

Two groups were arranged to ensure there were not too many paddlers congesting the river and we set out on a warm-up section of the first half mile of river which soon ramps up after the road bridge to a more exciting stretch.

A horizon line appears and a river wide slide manifests itself on the edge of the drop. At the bottom is a narrow gap which leads to a slot and another slide.

By this stage there had been swims for Jonathan and Jason. Kieran declared his shoulder had popped out and in again and was sensible enough to call it a day rather than aggravating the injury. Andy unselfishly volunteered to walk out with Kieran to get shelter in one of the vans.

We continued down river which was demanding and continuous until we found the horse shoe shaped drop of

The River Tawe Trip (24th Jan)

By Alun Jones

The Afon Tawe is in the Swansea valley and is fed by two main tributaries, the Twrch and Clydach which can also be paddled.

The lower part of the valley was intensely industrialised in the 18th and 19th centuries and was especially impacted by metal refining and work-ing and to a much lesser extent porcelain manufacture.

The river exits into Swansea bay which was once called Copperopolis because of the huge amount of copper that was used in the ship building industry. Copper was vital because the ships were extremely vulnerable to poten-tially terminal damage from wood boring worms. In the early 1760s the first ship was clad with copper plates, and by the 1780s the whole of the British navy was plated with the metal, as well as merchant East Indiamen.

Copper-plating ships meant intensive use of copper-rolling mills, and by 1800 annual production of these rolled plates was in excess of 1,000 tons. The use of the term 'copper-bottomed' to

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The Tawe trip continued

about 2 metres.

After an inspection from the bank, lines were discussed and decided and in some instances deployed safely.

Jonathan however found an unortho-dox line which ended in a game of hide and seek behind the curtain of the falls. Throw lines were deployed and a paddle and kayak were chased before Jonathan was reunited with his kit.

This was however not permanent and a close encounter with a tree put a stop to his paddling for the rest of the day. He decided to walk out and join Kieran.

The river still had some more inter-esting sections and wave surfing op-portunities before the trip ended and

we walked out to the waiting vans where we met with Andy, Kieran and Jonathan.

Andy suggested another run would be desirable and the mainly younger contingent concurred and set off to run it again.

Thanks to all the drivers and to Andy who missed out on a second run.

12 Paddlers and 3 swims + 3 rolls

Boys: Kieran F (1)

Men: Alun J, L, Andy V, Ben N, Chris W, George M (1), Jack S, Jona-than H (9), Mark B, Rich C (1), Rich N, and Tim C

Guest paddlers - Justin Bunn and his friend, Jason.

Ed: Thank you Alun for this report of that much talked about trip! Readers turn to p18 to find links for the trip. And to read another, quite different article from Alun turn again to p18 and read about another ‘new’ river Alun has found for us. Shall we try it?

Jonathan does it this way!

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River Exe trip - 20th February

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River Exe photos

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Left: Kath on Bolham rapid. Below : Andy on Salmon Steps.

Below: Swan Alert! Can you see it flying in? It goes for Kath first, then picks off a few more of us before leaving us alone.

Left: Stu on Broken weir. More photos like these are on the website now.

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Exeter canoe loop by A

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How the AGM went - 24th January

A really good turnout again and we heard positives from John about the finances, positives from Pam about our achievements and Andy summed it all up in his report when he said “2015 has been a great paddling year for me and the Club. Well done every-one!”

Graham did the important business of thankyous to everyone .

Our new committee is actually the old committee, which is great because we made a good team last year, got lots done and we didn’t have too many disagreements - so more of the same for 2016, hopefully.

The proposal to raise memberships by £1 per class led to a general discussion about membership with a suggestion that we were far too cheap. Others said that it was important to keep costs down on the basis of making the club fully inclusive. It was a good discussion and when we went to vote the pro-posal to increase by £1 was voted in and that fee starts from now.

And because there were no other matters raised by the members present, we were able to finish the meeting promptly and polish off the drinks and sausage pies.

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Something different - to Frome or not to Frome?

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It was the Frome, but not as we know it.

By Rich Carter

As many of you are aware, we had a Frome trip planned for 7th February, and with a such a grand turn out on the morning, it looked like it was to be a good trip. That is until you actually looked over the river bank. Is it really meant to be that col-our? Oh yes! And of note, it was a good 600mm above the Frome’s normal level. As we stood on the bank, we talked about what could go wrong.

We’d all noticed an absence of Jack and then, lo! he appeared as we were talk-ing, bringing the other Water Scout (Andy) with him, and some news. “It’s bigger downstream. It’s in the trees and fields, in fact it’s everywhere.” They had done a reccie down to Iford, you see.

“Oh” said everybody. “Is it still on?” After what I would describe as a micro second, Jack’s head twisted and bobbed, and with the great wisdom of someone who’s seen more than a young 20-some-thing year old should have, he said “I think we will give it a miss today.” And this was followed by a knowing nod from our Chairperson. And so it was to pass that only three paddled through the trees into ‘Boil World’.

We watched as a fridge played in one off the stoppers, trees as large as crocodiles passed by - well I hope they were trees, and I have been informed that a seal was spotted at Zoom Flume swimming about. Not much else to say, but it was a fast paddle to Iford, which meant I could go for a walk on the hills in the afternoon, and get wet again. Hope we have a better day on the Exe, but you will know by now.

The bridge at Iford

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Follow-on to the Frome trip - 7th February

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River gauges and how to find out more

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Email from Pip Thanks Pam for the links. I

have never paddled the

Tawe until to day and what

a trip it was! I didn’t even

get wet! Not splashed one

bit as I paddled with a cup of coffee in

my hands.

It looked a really great trip but certainly

one that was not for me. Great filming

and it really showed what the paddle

was like.

I must now go and lie down after that

exhausting paddle.

Many best wishes, Pip

Ed: Yes, I know what you mean by the exhausting paddle! Members, here are those links again:

George’s here. Jack’s here.

And from Alun

I have been reminiscing

about the Marden descent

race that I participated in

and won a disc of clay that

had been baked and en-

graved as a prize. The date was 3rd of April

1977, a busy year for me which included, the

Winchester slalom, Pultney weir slalom and

in October the Frome reggatta slalom.

The Marden can be paddled from the centre

of Calne but is very shallow and has some

trees that will impede progress and make the

first mile of the river difficult.

My recommendation would be to start where

the descent race began at Stanley which is

just off the A4 out of Chippenham. The

road is on the left and passes Abbeyfield

school where Yousaf used to teach.

There are a couple of parking spaces

near the river bridge and an easy place to

get on the river. At this stage it is quite

narrow, about the width of the Frome

above the town bridge. The first feature is

a small flume that is easy to negotiate.

Then the river meanders through fields

for around 3 miles to join the Avon.

There is one small weir which in 1977

was supervised by a man in a wet suit.

His job was to help paddlers over the weir

and limit damage to the fiberglass hulls of

our kayaks (the race was open to all

classes of boat including K1).

At the confluence with the Avon you will

have travelled around 3 miles and there is

a choice to extend the trip by paddling

upstream to the weir at Kellaways or to

go downstream to Chippenham.

There is an easy get out at Riverside

drive (I used to live here), where there is

plenty of parking space and anglers’

platforms to use. There is also a get out

at the sailing club further downstream or

alternatively at Monkton park near the

sports centre.

The next stretch can be paddled from

Chippenham to Reybridge, another 4

miles and upstream Laycock.

I hope this is interesting to you.

Regards Alun

Ed: Yes, very interesting. It’s always fascinating to get glimpses into paddler’s ‘past lives’. Readers should know that the committee asked Alun about the Marden as a possible different river to paddle. What do you think?

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Bits and Pieces

CAN YOU HELP US? Sunday 17th April 2016 We’re manning a station during a the Lionheart Cycling Event. We are to be based at Bruton Unionist Club (Quaperlake Street). It’s Feed Station No.2 - located for all riders at their mile 30… Let Pam know if you are interested in helping.

3rd September

Jonathan Howell 12

Jim Read 6

Tom Kimber 6

Steve Taylor 6

Rich Carter 4

Su Fewell 3

Gary Chant 3

Kenny McDonald 3

Dave Doughty 3

Tim Snook 3

Jos Maxey 3

Graham Warnecke 3

Terry O'Neill 3

Jacob Lines 2

Henry Faithfull 2

Kieran Fewell 1

Tim Cottle 1

George McGiveron 1

Copper Noseclip Points If you capsize and swim you earn yourself 3 points. A roll gets you 1 point. And if you are rescued you are

awarded 2 points. Totals so far:

Thank you Andrew Lyall for the helmet donated to the club. The extra large size will come in very handy!

Some Regional Events: Melksham CC: a Race Series - here Axe Vale CC: the Axe race - here SW Canoe show at Exeter - here

Instructors needed Mill on the Bru is recruiting. Look here for details

We’ve been

invited to go

on air!

So tune in

20th March

6pm.

COACHES MEETING - 16th March 7pm. Our 2016 season starts soon. So this meeting will help us to prepare for it all. Come if you are interested in helping at club sessions.

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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.

Our weekly river club sessions are due to start w/b 18th April

Mondays - Slalom training

Tuesdays - Courses and Adults-only

Wednesdays - General club session

NEW this year: an Adults-Only session on Tuesdays, 7-8pm at the Clubhouse.

Alan C will be coaching this session and he will help you to progress at whatever your level. Beginners will work towards gaining One Star and more experienced paddlers can come for a chilled evening's paddling.

As last year, we will be carrying on with ‘Open

Clubhouse’ on the Monday and Tuesday evenings.

So people can come and paddle more than once a

week if they like. We will also be promoting the

PaddlePass so you can save money if you paddle

on more than one evening per week.

Canoe Polo: also new this year will

be a monthly Polo game on Fridays,

alternating with the mini slaloms.

Polo will still run on Wednesdays but we thought

we’d try to get a bit of a competition going!

Help needed to run a TASTER Day: 16th April,

11am to 3pm. Can you spare an hour or two? Let

Pam know.

www.frome-canoe-club.org.uk

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CONTACTS

Chairman: Andy Vowell 07584 069432 Vice Chair: Gareth McGiveron Treasurer: John Kent 01225 765168 jfkent@blueyonder.co.uk Secretary: Pam Dixon 07740 472982 pam@dixon.org.uk Head Coach: Rich Carter 01373 864623 Youth Reps: Jack and Gareth Volunteer Rep: Jonathan Howell Kit: Jack Smiles smiles93@googlemail.com Safety Officer: Rich Carter Welfare Officer: Pam Dixon

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