2014 02 newsletter

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

Newsletter

Volume 38 Issue 2 February 2014

15th February Trinity Hall, Frome

(BA11 3DW gets you to the carpark)

7pm –10.30pm Dress informal. Buffet included.

Buy drinks at the bar £5, £3 u-14s

See back page for the first swim of the year! P8 for Rich’s report of the trip. P19 has the Copper noseclip points so far.

2

In this issue

3 Calendar in brief

4 River Frome Trip

4 River Barle Trip

5 Sunday morning club sessions

5 Coaches meeting

5 Advance dates

6 Pool sessions

7 Annual General Meeting

7 Scotland

8 New Year’s Day Paddle, by Rich

10 From A Trickle To A Torrent, Yousaf

12 Dry Suit -Wet Run, by Arthur

`

11 Ladies Symposium

11 Active Kids Again

15 Club Courses

16 Other events

17 Axe Race

18 Bits and Pieces

19 Copper noseclip points

CALENDAR: details

REPORTS

SPECIALS

FCC ‘THROWLINE ’ CLUB MAGAZINE

Send articles for the next issue to [email protected] by 27th February

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President

Graham Warnecke

Vice Presidents

Richard and Jane Arney

Jim and Catharine Croft

Chairman

Alun Jones

Vice Chairman

Gareth McGiveron

Treasurer

John Kent

Secretary

Pam Dixon

16 Blagdon Walk, Frome, BA11 2YH

Committee Members

Arthur Belbin

Rich Carter

Jonathan Howell

Stuart Miles

Sally Smiles

Kit Officers

Tim and Sally Smiles

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Calendar 2014


Date Event Standard Contact

February

2 River Usk or River Tavy trip Two Star/Discover John

7 Polo at the pool - non contact game All Jack S

9 River Frome Trip One Star/Passport Rich C

14 Polo at the pool - experienced All Jack S

15/16 Level One Coach course Participants Pam D

23 Sunday morning at Market Yard All Rich C

26 Annual General Meeting All Pam D

March

2 River Barle Trip Two Star/Discover Alun J

7 Polo at the pool - non contact game All Jack S

14 NO POOL SESSION All Pam D

15/16 Tryweryn weekend Two Star/Discover cttee

19 Coaches meeting Volunteers Rich C

21 Polo at the pool - experienced All Jack S

22/23 Level 1 Coach training Participants Pam D

30 Sunday morning at Market Yard All Rich C

April

4 LAST POOL SESSION All Pam D

6 River Frome Trip One Star/Passport tbc

12 Scotland trip leaves for one week Two Star ++ Neil D

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Calendar in detail

Carl, Kurt and Neil on the Allta Chourinn, a steep rockslide in Glen Etive.


River Frome 9th February Meet 9am at the Clubhouse Cost £3 Organiser - Rich Carter

This a trip designed for the newer paddlers in the club, but that does not stop you more experianced paddlers taking part.

The Frome is a grade 1 river (flat with a little moving water) and a number of weirs, which you can portage if you do not like the look of. Distance is 4 to 5 miles depending on what section we do.

All paddling kit is supplied by the club - all you need to bring is the clothes to paddle in, a packed lunch, yourself and as many friends as you like. Don‘t forget a set of dry clothes for the end.

It is a good trip for Passport or One Star paddlers. Remember that at this time of the year the water will be` cold and the weather may be cool, so you will need to come prepared with warm clothes and energy food.

The section we will paddle will be decided on the day and will of course depend on water levels.

River Barle 2nd March Meet 8am at the Clubhouse Cost £12 Organiser Alun Jones

The Barle is a great little river, steep and running through a high sided valley. It is sometimes likened to an alpine river.

We paddle the section from Tarr Steps to Dulverton, a distance of about 7 miles.

At low/medium levels it offers pretty much continuous grade 2 conditions with several good play spots. And to make it all the more perfect, the scen-ery is stunning.

You will need warm paddling gear, sensible thermals and lots of energy food.

Do ask if you are not sure whether this is a trip for you. We sort out all the kit you need to borrow on the morning when we meet at 8am.

This river needs rain in the run up to the trip , so keep watching the fore-cast!

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Carl, Kurt and Neil on the Allta Chourinn, a steep rockslide in Glen Etive.


Calendar in detail

MONTHLY SUNDAY MORNING PADDLES

On the last Sunday of each month through the winter

Market Yard 10am till noon

Sessions are more relaxed that the normal Wednesday club nights and so you get to paddle around and do your own thing. Or come for a chat and catch up on the club news!

Next two are

23rd February

30th March

Calling Coaches and Volunteers

A Meeting 19th March, 7pm

Clubhouse

To look at the programme for 2014 (Wednesdays and courses). Do come if you are interested in helping.

Previous experience is not a requirement!

Advance notice about some future events

Easter Egg Hunt 21st April (Easter Monday)

Grand Team Event 11th May Working in teams of three, race though the slalom poles at Market Yard. Always good fun.

Langham Farm Slalom 7th/8th June Great for beginners!

Biblins 5/6th July This is a fully catered, camping and paddling weekend. We get to paddle the River Wye on two days.

Market Yard Slalom 20th July. Based at the clubhouse, it’s an easy slalom.

Summer Barbeque 10th August. We’ll have some fun again - races? Or some other challenge? Give us your ideas.

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POOL SESSIONS

Frome Leisure Centre Fridays, 8-9pm

Cost £2.80 (young people), £3.30 (adults)

Having fun!

Paddling about

Learning to roll

Practising capsizes

Playing canoe polo

Meeting other club members

You will need to bring swimming cos-

tume and towel. (T-shirt is optional.)

We provide the boats, paddles and

spraydecks.

There are pool boats, playboats and

a Sit-on-Top for you to use.

And when you are not paddling you

can mess about in the small pool.

Twice a month we play canoe polo at pool during the middle session (blue bands). The first Friday in the month is a non-contact game. The second Fri-day in the month is for experienced paddlers.

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Calendar in detail

Annual General Meeting

26th February At the Clubhouse

7.15 for a complimentary drink

7.30 meeting starts

Help us to plan for 2014

The AGM is an opportunity to hear what the committee has been doing for you, how we have looked after our assets and how we have spent your money! We also elect the 2014 committee. Do come. This is your chance to have your say. We would like to hear your views!

Important: coming to the AGM does NOT commit you to being on the committee. But if you do want to get involved, speak to Alun, Gareth or Pam .

Agenda, minutes and nomination form came as an attachment with this emailed newsletter link, but can also be found on the website.

SCOTLAND, 12-19th April

Here it is again: off to the high hills of Scotland! All of you are welcome to come. I would suggest that you like grade 3 water, but we have had a lot of paddlers over the years who preferred easier stuff, so you don‘t have to be mad to join this trip, although by the end of it you may be!

We stay in a bunk house to the south of Fort William: double rooms, each with its own en-suite, a large dining area and we we take turns to do the evening meals and the washing up. There is a pub on site and some fantastic walks right outside our back door.

Last year some canoes went up and did some loch paddling, although we mainly paddle the rivers and rock slides around Fort William which are grade 3 with a little grade 4. Anything which you don’t like the look of can be walked around easily, and if there are grade 5s,you can watch along side me! Click on UK Rivers Guide for Fort William and you can see what rivers we do.

Give it a go, why don’t you? Let Pam or me (Rich) know if you are interested.

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New Year’s Day Paddle by Rich Carter


On 1st January 2014, which would be new years day, we gathered

at the club house. Or at least those who were able to get out of

bed did. Rain was in the air, so the river level was good. Some of

you probably would say high, but it depends on your view point!

For me, it was a good level for a paddle. Only a short paddle –

from Woolverton road bridge to Langham Farm, with 3 weirs to contend with.

The start was fine, photos were taken

and on we got. Fast water but flat, was

what we had all the way to the first

weir. ‘Shoot it on the left’ was the

shout. Ah Ian, that does not mean the

middle! And here is the evidence - a

middle-to-right descent!

Except of course it made a nice meal for

the stopper: an Ian burger!

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New Year’s day Paddle continued


Paddlers and points Boys: Ben L, Jamie E, Kieran F, Rich N and William J Women: Kath N, Megan J, Pam D, Su F . Men: Alun J, Andrew L, Andy V, Ian J (3), Jack S, John K, Jonathan H, Matt N, Rich C, Stuart M and Terry O And today we had guest paddler Kate Duffus, a member of the club from way back. It was lovely to catch up with her!

After this and a rescue of him, (thank you

Andy V), and eventually his boat, everybody

else walked around.

We followed on around trees, missing

bridge arches, missing each other,

until we arrived at Rode weir. It had a

good wave at the bottom of it, so

play started. After a good fun session,

we headed for Langham Farm, where

we chose the weir and mill stream

with its fallen tree, in preference to

the bridge.

It was a good trip, thanks to all who made it. And to those who did not, there is

always next year!

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From a trickle to a torrent! - by Yousaf Mirza


Upper Dart Trip 15th Dec 2013 Many say that the Upper Dart from Dartmeet to New Bridge offers some of the best whitewater paddling in the UK. I am inclined to agree!

Having had a few years away from the Club this was my first trip since rejoin-ing and a revisit of this run. I had under-taken this challenge in my University days, some 14 years ago(!), but my rose-tinted youthful view of the Upper Dart opened me up to a few surprises this time.

I remember inspecting the Upper Dart with the Club a few years back and it was monstrous, so this time the water level was ideal for a trip after a week of hoping that there would be enough wa-ter and numerous checks of the Dart webcam! The level this time was higher than my pre-millennium run and it was an intense run throughout.

The four paddlers, Alun, Jack, George and myself managed to paddle down the East Dart from the car park into the start of the run.

After a leisurely warm-up we entered the first two notable rapids, including the ledge rapid. Afterwards we did a

great section of Grade 3-4 which was excellent fun – continuous, challenging, non-stop focus on boat/body position-ing and, the best bit by far, the many boofs. This, and the ‘Mad Mile’ had us all enjoying ourselves and had a real Alpine feel where every paddle stroke counts.

Throughout the next section were many rapids to pick lines through while we were being swallowed up into a gorge before the two main events. I chose to explore the woodland flora alongside the Euthanasia rapid after inspecting it though wished I had just given it a go – another time!

The last main notable rapid was Pan-dora’s Box (Surprise Surprise). We all got out to check this one . A great rapid with a small island separating two very different sections of water. River left was chosen . It started with a boulder garden and then finished with a narrow slot that you dropped into and on into a pool. We all had a different interpre-tation of this rapid/drop. Brilliant!

With all the big stuff behind us, and my heart rate returning to normal, we ne-gotiated a series of Grade 3 rapids all the way down to New Bridge wonder-ing if the Loop group were still on the water?

After a blast through the Loop we

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Trickle to a torrent continued

caught up with everyone at Triple Falls and continued on down with them to the Dart Country Park, enjoying the many playwaves, fun weirs and gather-ing points.

A great time was had by all. For me this ranks as the best English river I

have ever paddled and it was excellent at the level we had that day. Fantastic fun and more of the same please next time!!

Ed - Thanks for this article Yousaf. It is good to see you back paddling with us again!

We ’ re collecting again!

What do you fancy?

A table tennis table for the

upstairs room? Or a soft tip

electronic dartts board? Or

maybe a giant four in a row

game.

Save your vouchers for us!

Bring them to

any club

session and

help us get kit

for our club

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Dry Suit - Wet Run

Trip / Event River Exe

Date: 12th January 2014

Organiser: Umm not sure

Who went: Ask Pam

Report by : Arthur Belbin

It’s been a while since I have been on a trip so I was really looking forward to the excursion on the Exe, especially as the water levels were looking good, not too big but plenty of it. It was also a chance to use the new dry suit I had bought. Yes, I have finally succumbed. My argument for “I don’t need one as I don’t intend to swim” was severely undermined by my last trip on the Up-per when two swims in a leaky cag meant my sallopettes filled up with water. You try swimming in those babies! Then, in order to drain out, it entails partial stripping by the bank-side. “No doubt you’ll want to test the new suit” suggested Mark. “Not on the agenda” I replied. Hah! How wrong I was.

A fair sized crowd of the usual sus-pects participated in this trip although Gareth (on netball duty) was substi-tuted by Julia as big van driver. Julia doesn’t seem to swim as much as Gareth.

On the way down I noted that Taun-ton Deane services have been newly

refurbished as have their prices so it was a hot chocolate (ymmm!) for me instead of an extortionately priced ba-con bap. Surprisingly, when we got to Bolham there were no other paddling groups and we saw no others all day.

Within the first 15 minutes we had two swimmers, Ian and Jane felt the need to have a dip at Bolham weir. Jane did a splendid self-rescue, walked to the bank with a real stroppy look on her face, whilst Ian went for the self-rescue, stuff the boat approach. His boat activated its auto pilot and headed down river followed by the FCC recovery crew aka John and Andy with his multi-coloured barge sorry, classic kayak museum piece.

The ferry glide across the weir face was accomplished by all (apprehensively by some) and Summer felt that she was getting warm so also went for a dip just after the hard bit to show that anything an adult can do she can do just as well!

Nine points on the board already, it promised to be a fine trip. With plenty

13


Dry Suit - Wet Run continued

of flow and fun to be had, the play wave at Worthhouse Bridge held our attention for quite some time and then we moved on to Salmon Steps. I got down to the bottom of the turbulent steps when Andy asked if I had my throw line. Looking back up I noticed an upside down grey boat. Hmm that looks like Bex’s and sure enough half-way up, there was Bex hanging onto the bankside rocks giving her best im-pression of a limpet.

It took Andy about 5 minutes to con-vince her that it really was ok to let go so we could help her out. Having got back in her boat, Bex then followed me down through the next bouncy section and under the road bridge where we were greeted by Kate waving with her mouth opening and shutting like a gold-fish. The wind must have been quite strong blowing in her direction as I couldn’t hear a word she was saying (perhaps it was very strong!). I got the gist of what she was saying and eddied out.

There we found a forlorn Rich H exam-ining a new drainage hole at the end of his boat that wasn’t supplied with a suitable bung. Out came the meths, lighter, bitumen flashing and gaffer tape. It was a total botch job but did hold out for the rest of the trip much to Rich’s relief.

During our repair session Stu felt the need to display a high brace which turned into an attempted punt but ended up to all intents and purposes as A SWIM whichever way you look at it and despite his protestations. (Stuart in your heart of hearts you know you are in denial, and as I am writing this article: “trois point!)

On to Town Weir where after a play in John’s boat Stu’s kayaking prowess meant that he was unable to paddle up the river and left John stranded on the side with no option but to get in the Legend and paddle on down to Walronds where he made a serious (but unsuccessful) attempt to take out Summer for a second swim.

A quick snack attack and then the long haul to Bickleigh. Some of us had a play on the waves there, while others got off. Stu decided that he would put the Legend into the stopper and asked if Mark, George and I would pull him out if he got stuck. We of course smiled and said yes, albeit with fingers crossed. I mean, come on, you’ve all seen the size of that boat, how on earth could we pull it out? No Stu, if you can’t get out you will be swimming (again!). Did he get stuck? You bet he did, the look on his face was a joy to behold as he struggled for some time with us giving suitable words of en-couragement whilst waiting for the

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Dry Suit - Wet Run continued


inevitable which didn’t materialise. Credit where credit is due, he did a really good job of staying upright and getting out. I think I would have pressed the eject button.

I decided to have a last play near a sec-tion where Rich had also been making some very strange faces and grunting noises. I did not intend to go there but the river had other ideas. Big mistake, after getting bounced about, I found myself under in the green/white zone getting bounced about again, but this time on my helmet with no room to move my paddle to roll up. A voice in my head started shouting “Vacate! Va-cate! Vacate! And test the new dry suit!” So out I bailed, got to the surface and thankfully grabbed hold of Rich’s rear end that he had so ably presented.

A protracted exercise in boat recovery then ensued which involved running down the side of the river crossing a tributary stream that I thought was

waist deep but was in fact neck deep (at this point Andy V who was follow-ing thought that there were enough of us involved and he was no longer required) to reach Stu and George who finally stopped my runaway boat a quarter of a mile down river. We then exercised ferry glides, passenger transfers, paddle swaps, portages through fields, gardens, a huge heap of broken glass landfill to finally get back to where we originally should have got off. I was emotionally over-whelmed by the amount of our pad-dlers who were waiting for us and helped us take the boats back to the car park, until I was told that actually Stu had everyone’s keys in his car!

Anyway thanks guys! Dry suit test suc-cessfully completed and yet another fine trip with the great and the good of FCC..

For a list of all paddlers, see p18

Offenders Name Type of Offence Roll, Tech Roll or Swim

Points

Jane Swim 3

Ian Swim 3

Summer Swim 3

Rich H Swim 3

Bex Swim 3

Stu Swim 3

Arthur Swim 3

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CLUB COURSES

Courses for OVER-14s One Star £40 An introductory course for beginners to the sport. An evening course: 6/13/20 May A day course: Saturday July 12

Two Star £55 A course to progress from One Star. A seven week course on Tuesday evenings , 7-9pm Starting 3 June

Three Star: £65 A course over two Sundays and three Thursday evenings. The first few sessions will focus on flat water and rescue skills and the white water sections will be covered on the last Sunday in a trip to Symonds Yat.

Sunday 15th June Thursday evenings: 19 Jun, 3 Jul, 11 Sept Sunday 21 September Canoe Safety (FSRT): £35

28/29 June Over two days, the training will be at Langham Farm. Certificate s: £5 BCU members /£10 non BCU members

Courses for YOUNG PEOPLE Passport £35 An introductory 7 week course for the under 14s. Wednesdays, 7-8pm. First course starts 14 May Second course starts 9 July

Discover £48 This follows on from the Passport course and develops the skills learned in Passport. It is a 12 week course, designed for under-14s. Wednesdays 7– 8.30pm. Start date - 21st May

Aquatic First Aid: £30 9 August An 8 hour course focusing on water based incidents, it includes loads of CPR. Certificates: £6 BCU members /£9 non BCU

For more information and an appli-cation form, pick up a Courses leaflet from the clubhouse, pool

session or website.

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Non-club courses and trips


Intro to WW Kayaking 21st Feb £65 3 Star Train and assess 22/23 Feb £120 2 Star Train and assess 29/30 Mar £125 1 Star Train and assess 9th Mar £65 Call Dan. 07976 208279

Three Star : 3/4 May. £135 Four Star training: 2/13 April, 6/7 September. £165 Four Star assessment: 1/2 March, 18/19 October. £150 WWSR: 8/9 Feb, 19/20 Apr, 4/5 Oct. £140

Hi all from Andy at www.escapetoadventure.com

Here is a list of my 2014 European WW kayak trips for 2014. ALL TRIPS INCLUDE TRANSPORT, ACCOMODATION, AND ALL GUIDING AND

COACHING all you have to buy is your food and drink 12th - 20th April (Easter) Corsican Adventure. Trip of a lifetime. Come and enjoy some of the best low volume steep creeking in the world. 4 places left 3rd - 10th May (Bank holiday) Scotland classics and creeks. Explore the best of Scot-land's Classics 6 places 24th - 31st May (Bank holiday) Italy Valsesia. The famous Sesia vally with its steep tribs. An absolute must. 4 places left 21st - 29th June and the 2nd - 9th July French Alps Classics A very popular trip, Fun in the sun. first trip 3 places left, second trip 6 places left.

12th -20th July French Alps improvers Sorry Full. 26th July - 2nd Aug and the 9th - 17th August Austria/Switzerland Big volume fun on the river Inn and the excellent Endindine Swiss Gorges. 6 places left on each trip Please note other trips can be arranged in-between these dates for group bookings.

http://www.escapetoadventure.com

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Bits and Pieces


To see the December/January issue and all past 14 issues of ThePaddler ezine on your PCs, Macs and laptops use Joomag or Issuu or:

http://www.joomag.com/magazine/thepaddler-ezine/

M0151422001368812110 or http://issuu.com/thepaddler/docs/

Race starts at 1100 at Whitford Bridge Briefing at 1030.

Finish at Axmouth Harbour (5 miles)

CONTACT: Axe Vale Canoe Club. Colin Schofield, 07889 842104,

email: [email protected]

River Axe Race Canoe Race - Sunday 9th March 2014

http://joom.ag/RNNX

http://joom.ag/RNNX

http://issuu.com/thepaddler/docs/

18

Bits and Pieces


RIVER TRIP INFO - DAY TRIPS Meet at the clubhouse to sort out kit and transport

Local trips cost £3. Meet time 9am. Exe and Barle costs £12. Meet 8am. All other day trips cost £15. Meet 8am.

Meet times at the clubhouse: Distant trips 8am Local trips 9am

Our new remote terminal makes

payments easy!

And you can now pay for sessions

in advance, using the new Up-front

Payments Card.

Ask at a club session for details.

PAINT PARTY 22nd January Mark Baines

Mike Bullen

Kate Johnson

Alun Jones

Andy Vowell

Gareth McGiveron

George McGiveron

Rich Carter

Walls are done. Electrics next!

Paddlers and points on the Exe Trip see p14 for Arthur’s report Girls: Ellie H, Isi M and Summer V (3) Boys: Ben B, George Mc and Keiran C Women: Bex T (3), Jane T (3) , Julia Mc, Kate and Pam D. Men: Andy V, Arthur B (3), Ian J (3), John K, Jonathan H, Mark B, Mike B, Rich C, Rich H (3) and Stu M (3).

Prospective Four Star and Five Star candidates

There is regional funding you can apply for, to help with the cost of these courses (both training and assessment). If interested, please ask John Kent for how to do this.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&frm=1&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&docid=1PNjnsN8wna3ZM&tbnid=xMhL3qPCtcOYFM:&ved=0CAUQjRw&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.barclaycard.co.uk%2Fbusiness%2Faccepting-payments%2Fportable-pdq%2F&ei=3U-OUr3hJ4js0gWHroC4CQ&bv

19

Bits and Pieces


RACE RESULTS - so far Position Participant Best Result (s)

1 Jack O 19.1

2 Andy V 19.4

3 Ben N 20.5

4 Mike B 20.7

5 Rich C 22.3

6 Andrew L 22.5

7 Alun J 23.1

8= Stu M 23.6

8= Terry O 23.6

10 George M 23.7

11 Gareth M 23.8

12 Jack S 23.9

13= Jack H 24.9

13= Mark H 24.9

15 Marcus F 26.9

16 Rich H 30.0

17 Pam D 32.3

18 Ben L 32.5

Still

no

t to

o la

te f

or

you

to

join

in!

C

lub

ho

use

, Wed

nes

day

s at

7p

m

A BIG thank you to Ian

Jones who single-handedly

has done the painting in the

stair well to the first floor.

Not an easy job. And

beautifully done! Come and

see for yourself!

On club trips, when things don’t quite go to plan, you can earn Copper noseclip points: 3 for a capsize and rescue 2 for a rescue where you haven’t capsized, and 1 for a roll. Keep paddling! And at the Social on 14th February we get to see who has won this coveted award for 2013!

Ian Jones 6

Stuart Miles 3

Summer Vowell 3

Bex Tanti 3

Rich Heal 3

Jane Thomas 3

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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.

www.frome-canoe-club.org.uk

Check out the photos of club events on the website. And refer to the calendar for all the club activities.

Follow us on

facebook

CONTACTS

Chairman Alun Jones 01373 823513

Vice Chair: Gareth McGiveron

Treasurer: John Kent 01225 765168 [email protected]

Secretary: Pam Dixon 07740 472982 [email protected]

Head Coach: Rich Carter 01373 864623

Youth Rep: Stu Miles

Volunteer Reps: Jonathan Howell and Sally Smiles Kit Officers: Sally and Tim Smiles

Get a leaflet and

application form

from the clubhouse,

pool sessions or

website.

And see p15 for

summary of all our

courses.

Woolverton Weir on the New Year’s Day paddle

Swimmer! There had to be one, didn't there? The

first swim of the year goes to.... Find out on p8 in

Rich’s report of the trip.

2014 02 newsletter

Documents