Blog - Tales From The River & Workshop

Canoeing means different things to different people. For some it is the thrill of blasting down rapids on a fast moving river using your paddling skills to keep yourself from capsizing or hitting rocks but for me it is the joy of being utterly away from it all in a place of pure tranquillity and calm waters.The Norfolk Broads offer this with the added bonus of lovely big wide open spaces with acres of sky. Sometimes being alone can be difficult with so many boats around but a

Recently I went to visit a friend in Yorkshire in celebration of his birthday. The celebrations were to be spread over several days and the location was adjacent to the River Derwent with easy access for my canoe so I was able to go out for the occasional paddle. The first time I went out was on the early evening of my arrival and I returned as the sun was beginning to go down. On my second trip I had a bit more time and went a bit further up to Kirkham weir where I could jus

A while ago I had a request from some of my OCA friends to run a paddle making workshop. As I have never done any teaching or instruction this was to be a new experience for me. However, I do have thirty years of woodworking experience to draw on and I did find myself referring back to the times years ago when I was taught my trade. I advertised the event on facebook and spread the word via word of mouth to some of my paddling friends and when It came to it, I only had one st

River Nene Stibbington to the Boathouse pub and back. The river was like a mill pond with just the occasional light breeze which was usually a slight cross wind which assisted with paddling by pushing the hull gently on track against my paddle stroke. The bridge at ferry meadows was looking especially fine reflected in the mirror like surface of the water. Paddling a canoe gives you the opportunity to see wild life in a whole new light as you come very close to animals and bi

This paddle was one of the very first I made. I made it at a time when I was unsure if I would like canoeing as I hadn't done any for years and I was an inexperienced paddler. When first making paddles it is recommended that the dimensions are kept a bit chunky until you have used the paddle and this is a good rule to follow as you can always remove timber easily at a later stage but it is more difficult to put it back on! Having used it a few times and found it over heavy I

Information seems a bit thin on what this stretch of the Nene is called and ashline lock doesn't feature on paddle points or my EA map of the river though the watercourse is shown and it is noted as being under the control of the middle Level commissioners. I had paddled to stanground lock on one of my earlier trips arriving at about 5pm and saw some kayakers putting in and going down river on the far side which alerted me to the possibility and also I had acquired an OS map

The Grantham Canal is a canal that runs for 33 miles from Grantham, falling through 18 locks to West Bridgford where it joins the River Trent. It was built primarily to allow for the transportation of coal to Grantham. It is currently partly navigable, partly in water but not navigable and some sections are filled in, notably where the A1 has been built across it so I knew this was going to be an interesting though not long paddle. Before setting of I generally check two webs