Blog - Tales From The River & Workshop

With the extra planking prepared I could continue planking. On consulting books and the W.C.H,A forum it seemed that just wetting the planks with hot water was supposed to be enough to get them to bend. I found this was not enough for my planking as I kept getting splits. Usually at the worst time when I was putting in the last tack! I found it helped if I wetted the planks well and left them overnight to soak and for some pieces I even steamed the ends a little where the twi

Hello Folks It’s been quite some time since I have had time to write anything to my blogg what with illlness which was followed by lockdown! but I thought as this Canoe is a different type of build then it deserves to be recorded. For those of you who are unaware wooden canoes come in many different types of construction. First off there were Dugouts. These were made essentially from hollowed out logs. Then there were birch bark canoes. Made with a covering of birch bark over

Hello Folks I find myself at home for a few weeks laid up with Pericarditis (an inflammation of the lining of the heart probably caused by a virus.)This is a bad thing from many points of view but at least whilst there isn’t much I can do about it aside from resting and taking lots of brufen tablets it does give me time to catch up on a blog or two. This trip finds Andrew and I paddling a small circular route near Woodwalton fen. We had done a part of the trip before with the

Hello Folks After the storm of the previous night you can see Nick’s event shelter was now dismantled but our tents were still standing. As a result of the weather this blog is a slight departure from canoeing. Most days the weather is good enough and safe enough for a canoe trip but there are some types of weather that do push this to the limit. I have been known to paddle in February rain storms and occasionally you set off on a trip and it turns to rain so you put your coa

Hello Folks It seems with the way things are going I seem to have less and less time for writing blogs and I am beginning to wonder if anyone has the time to read the them so please do let me know if you are enjoying them. The internet and all things computer related seem to take longer and require more attention than they used to. I recently changed from windows 7 to windows 10 and have found nothing to recommend it so far. I think they named it windows 10 because everything

Hello Folks This trip is one I have done many times but it was still an interesting paddle as I saw lots of wildlife and the skies provided some excellent photo opportunities. As I set off all was mirror like calm. I didn't see many boats throughout the day. Perhaps it just felt that way because there were so many on my Norfolk Broads trip last bank holiday. One narrow boat passed me and I saw another pass through Wansford lock but that was pretty much all the big boat traffi

Our final day at Barton Turf Adventure Centre began slightly cloudier and many, apart from some who left the previous day, were readying themselves for the return journey home. On quizzing folk to see who was up for a paddle it transpired that just Nick and I still wanted more! We decided to take a trip up the lower section of the Walsham and Dilham Canal up to Honing Lock. This is one we have done many times before but there are changes going on up there and we like to keep

Day 3 and once again I was up early for a short paddle before the main event. It was even colder than the previous morning and once again it was misty. This time instead of heading out onto the broad I took a left turn and paddled into the mist. The sun began to rise behind these trees picking them out in silhouette. Rounding a bend I saw this house and windmill in a different light. I have seen it plenty of times in full daylight but like this it looks timeless. A swan glide

A long day paddle! On Saturday morning I still felt like getting on the water early in the hope of seeing an otter but it wasn't to be. It felt cool and there was a mist on the water. I only took a short trip as I knew we were in for a long day. Nick had planned a paddle from Wroxham to Barton Turf via Horning and Ludham. We parked at Roy's Long stay car park after unloading boats in the short stay park near the put in. The long stay car park has recently had a new restrictio

Hello Folks This will be the first of 4 bloggs about my Easter weekend on the Norfolk broads organised by my good friend Nick Dennis of the OCA and hosted by Barton Turf Adventure Centre. The full moon was shining brightly so I awoke early on Friday morning at 5.50 am With a fabulous weather forecast on the cards I decided it would do no harm to arrive in Norfolk early so I got up. Most of my kit was packed I just had sandwiches to make and Canoe and paddles to collect from t