Volume 25 Issue 4

FROME CANOE CLUB

August 2001

F.C.C. Stand is a Resounding Success - West Wilts Show 2001

The Duke of Kent chats to Kris & Pam at the West Wilts Show. (photo by Pip)

(Congratulations must go to Kris for all his efforts in bringing together a great publicity stand and for masterminding the arrangements for the show…..Committee)

This was a paddling trip that was different to the norm; the only water seen was clear and came in two temperatures cool or room. (Obviously not the Frome then). This was the West Wilts Show, The show started for us on the Wednesday after-noon. It was time to set up, much sweat and toil later with the staple gun still steaming the stand was up and completed. The next morning started off cool, for all of about two minutes, then got hot, then hotter, followed by a little more heat to make sure that we were all cooking nicely. The Duke of Kent opened the show before proceeding to tour the site. It was dur-ing this tour that the Duke visited our stand spending several minutes talking to us about what we did, where and when and although we did not manage to get him to join - maybe we should have tried harder - we did at least get more attention than most of the other stands near us.

The pictures of the stand were grabbing the attention of many members of the pub-lic as they passed by, gaining us lots of positive feedback and many firm enquiries to the extent that at times all three of us there were busy talking to potential mem-bers. The numbers at the show tailed off later on so we went off home.

(continued Page 7)

DATE EVENT STD REQ CONTACT August 12th BBQ Langham Farm All Pam Dixon 18/19th 2 Star Training Weekend 1 Star Alan Carpenter 26th Surfing Sunday All Sean O’Gorman September 9th Woolverton to Langham or Avon at Fordingbridge 1 Star Arthur Belbin 23rd Setting up Slalom Course All Richard Carter 25th Slalom Training All Richard Carter 29/30th Slalom at Langham All Pip Hallett October 13/14th Tiverton Training Weekend 1 Star Richard Carter 28th Dart Loop 2 Star Lindsey Plumb November 10/11th Barle and Exe 2 Star To be confirmed 25th Usk 2 Star To be confirmed December 9th Dart Loop 2 Star To be confirmed 28th NO POOL SESSION January 1st Steve Allen Memorial Paddle 1 Star Pam Dixon (Woolverton to Langham) 4th NO POOL SESSION ?th New Years Social All Pam Dixon 20th Upper Dart 3 Star To be confirmed

THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

President Graham Warnecke Vice Presidents

Richard & Jane Arney Jim & Catherine Croft

Chairman Richard Carter 01373 864623

ViceChairman Sean O’Gorman 01963 440340

Secretary Pam Dixon 01373 473836

Treasurer Arthur Belbin 01225 766276

Members

Lindsey Plumb 01373 300700 Pip Hallett 01225 864509 Alan Carpenter 01373 471408 Martin Belbin 01225 766276 Tim Bentley 01373 453983 Terry Phillips 01373 473613 Michael Hill 01225 767622 Kris Buxton-Dean 07889 732594

Club Secretary Pam Dixon

16 Blagdon Walk Frome

BA11 2YH 01373 473836

E-mail pam.dixon@cableinet.co.uk

Throwline Editor Pip Hallett

‘Lyndhurst’ 1 Spencers Orchard Bradford On Avon

Wiltshire BA15 1TJ 01225 864509

E-mail qswi1035@email.mot.com

Newsletter Published February

April June

August October

December

Articles, sale items or other information to be included must

reach editor by the 1st of the MONTH

CONTENTS

Front Page WEST WILTSHIRE SHOW Page 2 CALENDAR/COMMITTEE DETAILS Page 3 CALENDAR IN DETAIL Page 4 CALENDAR IN DETAIL Page 5 EVENT REPORTS Page 6 EVENT REPORTS Page 7 EVENT REPORTS+ CAPTION COMPE-

TITION Page 8 REPORTS + FOR SALE + CARTOON

CORNER Page 9 CLUB NEWS + SPOT THE DIFFERENCE Page 10 SEPTEMBER SLALOM NEWS Page 11 SLALOM DETAILS Page 12 GOSSIP AND OTHER CLUB NEWS Page 13 INFORMATION/COPPER NOSE CLIP Page 14 INFORMATION ON OTHER PADDLING

THROWLINE

CALENDAR

Trip Prices (day trips)

Local trips cost £2 Poole and Exe

All new members: Remember if you want to go on a paddling trip and you are not sure about whether you will be able to or not because you don't know whether your paddling skills are up to it - all you have to do is phone up the organiser and ask, or phone me and I will ask for you. I hope you all know by now, that you can borrow any club kit that you need to for these trips including a wetsuit if you're lucky: we do have a few which have been donated to the club and which may just fit you! But what you do need to wear and which we can't help you with are THERMALS! Thermals are really important in winter trips because they keep you warm. They are the first things which you need to beg, borrow or preferably buy for yourself when you are doing river trips. What else do you need for trips? Cags to keep the wind and water off. These are also important in keeping you warm - and there are lots to choose from in the club now. What else? Packed lunch and a hot drink. Anything else? Well we always meet in at the clubhouse in the morning before we leave, and that is the time to sort out what you need in the way of club kit, pack it into the cars along with your own kit, and then off to paddle. Pam Dixon

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CALENDAR IN DETAIL

18/19th August. 2 Star Training Weekend Alan Carpenter Instructor Meet 9.30 Frome Market Yard, Sat-urday 18th. Cost: £15.00 + £3.00 for BCU Cer-tificate & Badge. All 1 Star paddlers are most wel-come. We'll cover the complete 2 star syllabus over the course of the weekend, both theory and practical, with the test taking place on the Sunday afternoon. You will need to bring packed lunch, hot drinks and changes of clothing on both days. Yes, you will be getting wet. To ensure suc-cess on this course smiling is com-pulsory. You're doing this for fun you know!! If you need further info contact Alan on 01373 471408. Please book with Pam Dixon on 01373 473836. Hoping that you join us, Alan Car-penter.

Sunday 26th Aug Surfing Sean O’Gorman Woolacombe or Croyde Meet at Market Yard - 8am Cost : £10 for petrol. Anyone needing help with transport will need to ring around the Com-mittee. Any boats etc. needed can be picked up at Market Yard, but please be early on the 26th. We will be returning to Market Yard between 7-8pm.

Moving Water Weekend Or the Tivi Weekend (because we are based in Tiverton!) 13th/14th October Meet at Market Yard 7.30 on Satur-day. Return 6 -7pm Sunday Cost - £28 This course will help you to pro-gress from flat-water to white water paddling. Fully catered, we stay in the Youth Centre at Tiverton where we have wonderful accommodation includ-ing warm showers and good food. You need to bring a sleeping bag, your personal kit and your paddling kit - the latter you can borrow from the club on the Saturday morning. We paddle the River Exe on both days and you will learn how to fer-ry glide, break in and break out, how to paddle into stoppers and even play in them, how to surf waves and how to read the water. Rich is in charge of the water activ-ities and divides the party into small groups each led by an experienced paddler so that you can brush up on old skills and learn new ones. Please ask me for the detailed infor-mation and permission form to be

Mystery Trip Sunday 9 Sept I’m not sure where we can get ac-cess to at the moment, it may be a trip down the Avon at Ford-ingbridge, down the Frome from Woolverton or Bath to Saltford. Who can go: 1 Star Paddlers and above. Contact me seven days before hand for final details. Full details will be on Clubhouse notice board very soon. Arthur Belbin

Last Wednesday Session September 12th is our last Wednesday session but do not dis-may because no sooner do they stop than we start in the Swimming Pool on Friday 14th. But back to Wednesdays! We have had some wonderful evening sessions with the usual mix of coaching, playing and just being there on the real wa-ter. Kris has explored further up the river than we used to go - this has meant getting out of kayaks and dragging them over the very shal-low sections at Willow Vale. We have seen kayaks pulling surf-ski and frenzied games of polo and lots of seal launching from the new im-proved launch that Rich has estab-lished. We haven't seen many of the Open Canadians on the water this year (mainly because there are none at MY!) but Alan and I have now installed two in the Club Trailer so lets see if we can get some use out of them before the season ends! Wednesday sessions aren't all about paddling - we have seen a good crowd of canoeists and non-canoeists on the bank, chatting, plotting and planning and drinking the odd bottle of wine in the sun-shine! Altogether it has been a good friendly season with lots go-ing on. There are still a few ses-sions left - come on down and join in if you can! Pam

signed by your parents if you would like to go. Pam

Undertaking your training and want to know more about the

BCU Star Awards….then visit http://www.geocities.com/

Yosemite/Rapids/3193/kayak.htm

This site provides example ques-tions and answers for each of the Star Awards, showing the Pre-requisites, Assessor, Practical re-quirements, Theory and personal skills required. It will certainly help for the Club

Training Sessions.

Dart Loop—Lindsey Plumb October 28th and December 9th Meet at Market Yard, 7.45 Cost £10 +£1 for the ticket to paddle This is a wonderful trip for paddlers who are at least 2 Star, with experi-ence of white water paddling. We start at Newbridge and paddle to Holne Bridge: about three miles altogether with some very exciting features. You start off with a gentle section and then when you are warmed up you meet Washing Ma-chine, followed by Lovers Leap, a 100m rapid with boulders to miss. On half a mile to Triple Drop, three large natural drops getting harder as you go, and finally Spin Dryer where you can take a turn. But do not be frightened by these names because our expert Instructors know all the best routes through. And with good paddling you can miss the big stoppers and play in the friendly ones. If you have any concerns about whether this trip is one for you, please talk to Rich. Pam

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CALENDAR IN DETAIL

Barle and Exe Weekend November 10th/11th Cost £15 (food not included) Meet at Market Yard 8.00 on Satur-day A river trip for experienced pad-dlers of at least 2 Star ability. We paddle the Barle on Saturday and the Exe on Sunday. Self catering, but we stay overnight in Tiverton Youth Centre where we have basic facilities - use of show-ers, fridge, kettle but not general kitchen equipment. So bring your lunch for Saturday and Sunday and your breakfast things for Sunday morning. We usually walk into Tiverton on Saturday evening to buy a take-away for the evening meal. And we sometimes play skit-tles in the local pub as an evening warm down. Please sign your name on the sheet in the clubhouse if you would like to join the trip. Pam.

23rd Sept. Slalom Setting Up 25th Sept. Slalom Training 29/30th Sept. Slalom Weekend For full details of all these three events we are holding during this coming September, please see Pag-es 10 & 11. As we missed our June Slalom, we hope many of you will support us both running the event and maybe entering for some fun.

Dart Loop December 9th Meet at Market Yard, 7.45 Cost £10 +£1 for the ticket to paddle As 28th Oct trip details. For paddlers who are at least 2 Star with experience of white water pad-dling. If you have any concerns about whether this trip is one for you, please talk to Rich. Pam

Details for the November Trips to be confirmed in October Edition of Throwline + see Frome Swimming Pool notice board nearer the date. 10/11th Barle and Exe 2 Star trips. 25th Usk 2 Star trip

Idea’s for our New Years Social We have for the last two years held a very enjoyable and fun packed evening during January at the Frome Rugby Club. The evening consists of some simple fun quiz-zes, annual prize giving, a wonder-ful buffet and friendly banter be-tween club members, all at a very reasonable cost. Would you like to suggest any changes that possibly could be made to the evening?? Any suggestions please pass back to any committee member during the next couple of months. We aim to make this next social even better…..please let us know how. Thanks from your committee.

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Event Reports

Bradford on Avon - 16th June Who could have gone….All 'Can we do it again?' 'Can we do it again?' - Yes, the Town Weir - again and again we did it, and it was good fun. It was Kiri, the youngest in the group who surprised us all. Not to be beaten by any boy, there she was scrambling up the weir face not once, not twice, but six times in all, to come bouncing down the weir, smiling every time and no swims to boot! Unlike Aaron who managed to demonstrate a textbook capsize and rescue. But give him his due he did manage to get seven drops in all. Will and Rory were a bit cau-tious to start with, and waited as the others each had one go showing them how easy it was, before mak-ing up their minds and then there was no holding them back. Calum didn't need any persuasion - he was second up the weir face after Kiri and he must have done the weir six or seven times in all. Tom and Peter who were paddling the Canadian were denied the opportunity to shoot the weir and had to content themselves with walking slowly along the top of the weir. Of course the older paddlers re-mained sensible the whole time: Alan stayed below the weir to pro-vide excellent safety cover. Rich and Mike orchestrated the whole cycle of climbing up the weir face, pulling the kayaks up, herding the novices to the correct spot and di-recting them over, safe as houses to pop up in the frothy spray at the bottom, mostly smiling and game for the next. Oh but Arthur couldn't remain sensible now could he? He frolicked and played in his new Wave Sport - not quite as good as Adam on the enders though. Come on Arthur, you need to give it a bit more whellie! It was a really lovely paddle. We met Pip in the car park at Bradford. He looked longingly at us all (not fair is it Pip?) - but couldn't join us. Just as we were about to get on,

screeching tyres and 180 turns in the carpark announced that Mike had arrived. Then we could go. We paddled down to Avoncliff and back for some lunch. Then up to Town weir with a history lesson, courtesy of Mike, en route. Did you know how Bradford on Avon got its name? A prize for anyone who knows this! Also did you know what the little building on the side of the bridge is called and what it was used for? Another prize for the answer to this. And while we are on history - when was the aqueduct at Avoncliff built! It's a wonderful bit of construction and I'm game to explore it a bit on our next Avon trip - but we will have to shoot the weir there, in order to get to it. It was lovely to see so many new-comers join us on this trip. And it was lovely to have a Canadian with us for a change. The Crew: Kiri, Aaron, Will, Calum, Rory, Mark, Tom, Peter, Arthur, Mike, Alan, Rich, and me. Pam

The Wye Trip - a mixture of adventure and social As a new member of Frome Canoe Club, this was my first trip away with the club. If first impressions are anything to go by, I hope it won't be my last trip. My preparations started on the pre-vious Thursday night - the search for a sleeping bag, sorting my tent which hadn't seen daylight for the

last two years, organising food and trying to think what to bring and what to leave behind. If the truth is to be known, up to eight weeks ago I didn't know the difference between a kayak and a canoe. I always thought the canoe was the one with the cockpit and the kayak was what the native North Americans used. The extent of my amateur status may now be becoming apparent. The Ross on Wye trip was organ-ised for an introductory canoeing experience because the Wye is a gentle river, ideal for newcomers. It is a grade 1 river with some fast moving water to test beginners' skills. But Neil used it to get in some canoeing practice before be-ing assessed two weeks later (it's alright, he's not mad) and Isabella wanted to get her 1 Star Canoe Award. The others who made the trip were Rich who still refuses to get wet, Pam whose main reason for going was to try out her new sleeping bag, Andy to keep an eye on Isabella and myself who was primarily going for the social as-pect, to get to know people and also to be one of those ON the water rather than one of those looking on from the bank in envy. There were ten places available but only six places were taken up - for those who didn't get to go, it is their loss. I am not sure what it was about the trip that made it so mem-orable. Was it the people, the ban-ter, the stories that were told about previous escapades, the fresh air, the swans with their cygnets, eating on the river or the mere pleasure of being there? But there was some-thing that made the trip feel very special - the peacefulness and beau-ty of it all. A fantastic trip. Clive Ross (Congratulations Clive, you Win a bottle of Wine - Ed.)

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Event Reports

were found playing in the waves at the bottom! Below the Yat rapid, the river wound its way through a delightful wooded valley. We stopped quite frequently on this stretch: for a lei-surely lunch, to admire the scenery, to enjoy the sun, and to watch the fish and dragonflies. We even had a chance to practise with our throw-lines at one rapid: yes, even level 4 coaches need practice as anyone on the Canoe Safety day in June will remember! It also gave Andy a chance to cool down as bobbed down the rapid. The full trip from Ross to Mon-mouth was about 21 miles. Pad-dling one stretch of river over two days gives you a real feeling of achievement. This sense of journey-ing has been lost from many mod-ern paddling disciplines (playboating, for example). I think this is a shame, and anyone who has done a journey like this will agree that it is great fun and rewarding in many ways. You learn a lot about the river and the surrounding area, but also about yourself and your paddling. I really do hope that more trips like this find their way into the Club calendar, and I urge you to leave your playboat in the garage and come and discover what proper canoeing is about! Neil Dixon (Thanks Neil for a most interesting account of your weekends trip. Ed.)

Wye Weekend in Canadians 30th June There were six of us on the trip: Pam, Rich, Clive, Andy, Isabella and Neil, so we took four canoes (my maths never was very good). Now let's get one thing straight: we're talking about proper canoes, not those funny little kayak things. After a brief rainstorm at the put-in at Ross-on-Wye, we set off in bright sunshine that was to continue for the weekend. The previous ex-perience was varied within the group, with Andy being a level 2 Canoe Coach, whilst Isabella and Clive were successful in getting their one star awards during the trip. Somewhat unusually, Pam's pre-trip description in the Throwline proved to be remarkably accurate: the scen-ery was beautiful, the atmosphere was tranquil and the water was lovely and placid with the odd shal-low rapid to keep us on our toes. Our somewhat relaxed approach to the day's schedule (we didn't start paddling until after lunch!) meant that with fifteen miles to paddle to Symonds Yat, we didn't arrive until about 8p.m! Rich, Clive, Isabella and Andy put up their tents. Pam, in true style, erected her huge mar-quee, while Neil turned his canoe on its side, stretched a tarpaulin over it and slept underneath that. However, his resolve to complete the trip in the 'traditional' way was-n't strong enough to turn down the offer of Pam's excellent cooking! After a night in varying degrees of comfort ("The best thing about my tent is that you can stand up in it" - Pam), we left the campsite and con-tinued our journey. There were a few hundred metres of flat water before the main rapid of the trip - a gnarly grade II. Clive, Andy, Isa-bella and Neil used the distance to warm up those stiff muscles and practise the crucial strokes before shooting the rapid. The reckless pair (Pam and Rich) disappeared down the rapid with no thought of the dangers or consequences and

Bath to Keynsham 14th July - Arthur Belbin The trip we went on 14 July which I am sad to say was on a Saturday for purely selfish reasons. The British GP was on Sunday and I was not going to miss it. So Saturday it was and the weather forecast wasn’t good and it was chilly. The purpose of the trip was to provide some of our members who are current-ly undertaking their two star with an opportunity to undertake their manda-tory journey of 2hrs (6km). Well by the end of the day they had certainly done that and had the aching limbs as evi-dence, the overall journey was about 10.5km. Others were also welcome to come along and so it was that myself, Rich, Pam, Paul (who was running the course) Rachel, Steven and the dynam-ic duo Adam and Tim all went with Tim bringing along his new river run-ning skateboard. We eventually got on the water at Locksbrook lock gates in Bath after a series of delays that includ-ed me, (despite organising the maps), driving around Bath city a couple of times, Paul losing his car keys, and Rich, Paul and myself sussing out the new wave at Saltford. We did this when doing the car shuttle so that we were aware of what to expect when we arrived at this point on the river. Need-less to say when we arrived back at Locksbrook we were greeted by looks of “have you been Christmas shop-ping?” Getting on the water proved to be the first challenge for our novice paddlers as the water level was about four-foot lower than the jetty. With assistance all made it in OK and Rich splattered in with a slap so loud that you’d have thought that he had split his hull. The journey was relatively uneventful with blue skies, sun, fishermen, cormorants, gently flowing sparkling emerald green water etc, etc. yet again the weather-men had got it wrong, not a rain drop in sight. Our novice paddlers came across their first weir in anger at Shallows weir and all coped with it admirably despite an initial and understandable moment of anxiety. The River then went on past Saltford Sailing Club and to The Jolly Sailor Public house and weir. This weir has got a chute to go down and a wave to play on and we spent a long time here playing, having lunch and generally chilling out. There were several other paddlers here and both Rachel and Jacob decided to swim (better log these mister editor sir!)

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Event Reports + Caption Competition

CAPTION COMPETITION

Sorry but I couldn’t resist showing the picture below, taken at the Wiltshire show. See Pam's face, is she thinking of offering Tea and Doughnuts? and why is Kris looking as if he is refusing to accept a Family Membership from HRH. Well now its your turn, what do you think Pam and Kris are either thinking or saying? Please send your idea’s to the Editor by the 3rd Sept, when the winning entry will be selected, you stand to win a suitable prize. Winning entry will appear in the next issue of Throwline.

West Wiltshire Show...continued from Front Page: The Friday of the show was much quieter than the previous day, but still just as hot, with far fewer people looking around the site. We had fewer enquir-ies on this day but again those who we did talk to were positive and showed a lot of interest. The Saturday of the show was busy again (and even hotter) with lots of peo-ple looking around and many more paying close attention to us. We had a few more helpers at different times of the day on Saturday, which helped us to sell the club. By the time that we had finished and the show had closed we had gained several new members and lots of enquires with some of those that we talked to having turned up to club sessions already. Hello, to you new members. At the show we talked to about 0.5% of the 25000-30000 people who walked past the stand. Quite a lot of people to talk to! Thanks to all those who helped out especially Pip and Pam for turning up and cooking in those tents. (Kristian Buxton Dean)

Richard left us here and went home and we carried on to Keynsham which was a further 4.5 km down the river, quite a distance time was creeping on and we did end up getting off the water much later than scheduled (sorry parents for the late return). This was a pleasant trip I hope all enjoyed it, the novices seemed to and they certainly seemed to me to be much more confident in their paddling ability by the end of the day. I expect we will do this trip again in the future but only as far as Saltford so watch this space or even this issue!! Cheers...Arthur

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For Sale

Sola Wetsuit + Boots

Wetsuit size 36 Boots size 8

Both yours for £20 Contact - Calum Spencer

on 01373 - 472124

Reports + For Sale + Cartoon Corner

Still For Sale Two Kayaks

Dagger Crossfire Full white water spec, great for big water and surfing, multi-colour blue/purple suit medium sized adult. Excel-lent condition, much loved and cherished, good homes only need apply!

£325 ono Euro-Kayaks (now Lettman) Thunderbird Full white water spec, good river runner/play boat. Multi-colour yellow/red/turquoise suit medium sized adult or young novice paddler. Good condition.

£250 ono Interested? Contact Arthur or Martin Belbin on

01225 766276

CARTOON CORNER

Please make Arthur

an offer, as I want to

get this advert out

of the next edition

Thieves Break in Unfortunately our club trailer at Market Yard was broken into, some time after our club-night on July 26th July and the follow-ing Sunday afternoon when Alan saw the trailer as he was walking by with his wife. The blue bar which secures the back of the trailer had been cut with some serious bolt cutters and the left door had been forced open. Alan's boat and a club Master were taken. We have of course reported it to the Police but as yet there are no leads. We are very saddened that this has happened because we have put a lot of effort into making our facilities secure and this is a devastating knock back. Please remember that we are happy for you to store your personal kit in the club, but there is always a risk attached.

Late News Congratulations to Mark Lavis and his new wife Nic who were mar-ried in June. They've taken a year out to travel round the world, so good luck you two—keep safe & well, looking forward to seeing you in 2002.

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Club Reports & Spot the Difference

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Spot the Difference

Spot the Eight differences between the pictures and WIN a 2 lb slab of Cadbury’s chocolate.

Entries into Editor by the 3rd September - One winner only from draw.

Market Yard - developments The new roof has been tested now! Yes we have had some rain and it was Pip who noticed a small drip of rain coming through in one spot - but only one spot! Isn't that brill! And the de-humidifier that we have installed in the kit room is worth its weight in gold - what a difference that has made to the kit store. The most recent development is the plan to build a skate-board/bike park just outside our clubhouse and in fact very close to us. We were of course not too pleased about this but we were consulted and we were able to have our views taken into ac-count. As a result of this, there have been some changes to the layout of the park and some additional fenc-ing planned to protect us. As we understand it, the bike park is going to be temporary, until the funding is secure for the permanent park else-where. It could be there for 3/4 years but we reckoned that it would proba-bly coincide with us getting out per-manent building - so we are hopeful it won't be there then. However we are worried about the likelyhood of increased damage to our temporary building and our concerns have been noted. Although there was vague talk of CCTV we suspect that this is not likely to happen. And finally the big development is the new-improved-jetty-to-be. 11th August will see us working hard, digging holes in the water and what-ever else needs to be done. Funding for this has come from Frome Town Council and GWR. Tim (Adam's Dad) has arranged the welding of the iron work to support the wooden top structure, and of course Rich is master minding everything else in-cluding purchasing all the wood and giving the orders on the day. Good luck Rich! Pam

News on Foot & Mouth Paddling Restrictions

Well although the national news now informs us that the countryside is open as usual, we still face temporary restrictions imposed by some farmers who kindly let us normally have access both to the bank side and local farm tracks etc. Richard and Jane Arney at Langham Farm, Rode where our club has the use of the water, have even though the restrictions have now been lifted as far a local footpaths are concerned, requested us to postpone the use of this site, especially for paddlers outside this area. Of course we fully support Richard and Jane's efforts with trying to ensure that Foot & Mouth stays clear of their animals. Although we hope to use the Langham site very soon, the situation may con-stantly change . Even when we start using the site for club events the com-mittee asks that anyone wanting to use this site, speaks to Richard or Pam first. The committee is currently trying to plan a very active autumns paddling, so if you have any particular places that you wish to paddle or want a specific level of paddling ( both newer or more experienced), please let a member of the committee know. Finally please keep an eye on the Club notice board either at Market Yard or at the Frome Swimming Pool for most recent news.

Come and have FUN Your Help Needed

On Sunday 23rd September we need as many members of the club, parents and children to assist us down at our Langham Farm site (near Rode) to put together the Sla-lom site for the following weekend 29/30th Sept. What do you need to do….just turn up, help put up the slalom gates etc. This is not complicated, as several of the experienced slalom crew will be there to guide and help you and of course we will have Rich the ‘Slalom Course Director’ (what a grand title for another name as site supervisor). We are on site as from 9.30am on

the Sunday morning, I suggest that you bring along a few sandwiches for lunch and we are able to keep you going with a constant supply of freshly brewed tea. A last thought to leave you with, is that without your much needed help the Slalom will not go as smoothly as it should do…..come along its really a fun day out in the fresh air. Hopefully see you on Sunday 23rd Sept, see you then, cheers, Pip.

Slalom Training (Tuesday evening 25th Sept) Starting 6 to 6.30 pm This is planned to be held down at Langham Farm and caters for total beginners and anyone wanting to try Slalom. With the gates already up I will be able to advise you how to set your canoe up to get round the slalom course without hitting the poles or at least only a few. The rules will be explained as the evening progresses and all advice freely given (well there will be a very small charge, see clubhouse notice board for details). We have a supply of slalom boats stored at Langham, so don’t worry if you don’t have one. Of course if you really want to use your own boat you may do so. Now for real excitement, can you find a partner, as we have two C2’s (2 man canoes) which you can try. I you have any doubts ask Pam Dixon or Andy Vowell who are our top C2 team….they smiled all the way through the course on their first attempt. I really hope to see you on the 25th Sept down at Langham and then maybe as an entry at the slalom the following weekend. Enjoy your paddling, Rich.

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September Slalom News

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Entry into the Slalom You don’t need to be an expert as this Slalom event organised by the club and really meant for beginners. Don’t be afraid to enter as Langham Farm, is a Division 4 slalom which is ideal for beginners and therefore anyone can enter. You can enter early on either the Saturday or Sunday morning or before hand if you want to be really organised. If you need help either completing the simple entry ticket or sorting out equipment to use, with last mi-nute advice how to tackle the course there are loads of club mem-bers there to assist you. To show what can be achieved, Shane Creese having completed his 1 & 2 Star awards entered last years slalom for the first time and won his event. A shield went home with Shane. Lets see many more of the clubs members supporting this event by entering and having a go. Please support us by ENTERING. Good Luck from Rich.

COST OF ENTERING

Div 4 Senior single £5.00 Junior single £3.25 Senior Double £9.00 Junior Double £5.00 BCU non-members add £2 per day to costs.

Friends, Parents & Everyone Welcome

Please come along to our Slalom on the 29/30th Sept.

Please note there is no charge for coming along to the Slalom and just watch-ing.

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Gossip and other Club News

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Pam Collects Rubbish

No she doesn’t want you to send her more, rather Pam has been the main instigator in the clearing of rubbish along the river bank in Market Yard over the past couple of months. Thanks go to Pam. Originally bought up at a commit-tee meeting, it was felt that espe-cially on Wednesday Club Nights a period of no more than 15 minutes could be spent by members down at the riverside to pick up a little rub-bish so making the environment for our paddling a little nicer. Well its now up to the rest of us to support this effort and take some of the strain for this simple task off Pam, or a least assist. Pam will be able to supply a black plastic bag to collect it all in, so just ask her. (Ed.)

Stop Press Late gossip in is we hear that Andy McCann finally popped the question and asked Kate to be his wife and yes she has accepted. Many congratulations to you both. All your friends in the canoe club send their very warmest wishes to you Andy & Kate.

Team Work gets the Gate Built

During one Club Night back in June, Wayne and Gary Edwards(Wayne's Dad) got well and truly stuck into installing the new swing gate which provides us all with eas-ier access to the river close to the clubhouse. A small interested party of DRY paddlers (Terry Phillips, Richard Lord, Lin Perrett and Pip stood by and watched Wayne and Gary, working together , ‘as a well oiled machine’, drilling, modifying and fixing all the parts until they had finished. Our thanks go to you, Wayne and Gary for an excellent addition to the river bank and improving access for us all. (Ed.)

Postcard from Lundy Island Well not the most well known holiday resort but back in June we received a postcard from Graham & Carol Warnecke (our President). I don’t think I have seen Lundy on the Holiday 2001 programme, well saying that it did appear on some nature pro-gramme. Graham confirms that the island has thousands of sheep, 3 mil-lion rabbits and loads of chickens. Even the postcards stamp had a ‘Puffin’ on it. Graham and Carol had an eventful boat trip over to the island in a force 6 swell, with a lot of very ‘green’ faces hanging over the side. Lastly Graham confirms that he has now drunk all the wine he won at our Fun Day earlier in the month. Everyone says, thanks for the card.

Raleigh International This well known organisation is always recruiting for its international expedi-tions to such places as Ghana, Borneo, Mongolia, Chile, Namibia and Costa Rica & Nicaragua. If you would like to know more about this incredible life changing personal development experience, then please look at their Web Site… www.raleighinternational.org P.S. Martin & Sue Spurling are going on one of these to Peru next January.

Who is Ernie ?

Well a few days ago while strolling around the West Wilts Show, I met two very nice people who asked me how Ernie was. Looking a little puzzled as I didn’t recognise anyone in our club with this name, I asked to whom they were referring and to my surprise they pointed at a photo of our chairman Rich. Picking myself off the floor, after a spell of riotous laughter, they went on to relate how Rich became known as Ernie. Back in the 1970’s, when Rich was a teenager he got a part-time job helping on a milk float. Well re-member Benny Hills, ‘Ernie the Fastest Milkman in the West’ that name from the song stuck with Rich. So beware when paddling down the river that one of Ernie’s ‘Gold Tops’ doesn’t hit you from behind. (gossip monger...Pip)

Hot

Gossip

Snippet

As many friends keep asking how I am, just to let you know I go into hos-pital for three days mid August for cardiac investigation. Hope to know more then and get an idea of the servic-ing bill. Many thanks for your enquir-ies but you don’t have to buy flowers just yet. Cheers Pip

THROWLINE

Information

Internet & Tel Numbers FROME CANOE CLUB

www.frome-canoe-club.org.uk BCU http://www.bcu.org.uk Email…….. Info@bcu.org.uk Membership@bcu.org.uk Coaching@bcu.org.uk CanoeFocus@bcu.org.uk bcusw@aol.com Environment Agency www.environment-agency.gov.uk River Call S W Region 0930 107705 Welsh Region 0930 107704 For info on river levels (charged at 50p minute) Tryweryn Water info line 01678 520 826 Freestyle Web Site infor@ukrodeo.demon.co.uk

Kris Buxton Dean 23 pts Adam Bentley 11 pts Matt Freeman 9 pts Pip Hallett 8 pts Tricia Borg 6 pts Ross Phillips 6 pts Tim Perrett 5 pts Gareth McGiveron 4 pts Alan Carpenter 3 pts Peter Hockenhull 3 pts Arthur Belbin 3 pts Terry Phillips 3 pts Rachel Dowling 3 pts Jacob Ryder 3 pts Mark Hemmens 2 pts Ed Lee 2 pts Phil Wiles 2 pts Simon 2 pts Rich Carter 1 pts Martin Belbin 1 pts Michael Hill 1 pts Jon Bonnell 1 pts Beth Lane 1 pts Clive Ross 1 pts Points up to the 1st August Currently Kris is our clear lead-er, notching up another 3 points in a Canadian canoe.

New Members

Welcome to Clive Ross, Rachel Dowling, George Williams, John and Teresa Fletcher, Benoit Clavet, Jevon Sweeney, Stuart Haywood,Sam Shel-ton, Kirsty Norman and Andrew Wilsher. A special mention for James Ridge who is not quite new but has returned to us after a gap of about two years - welcome back! And the latest members from the West Wilts Show are Adam Matthew, Oliver Hughes, and the Laid family - Mat-thew, Scott, Aaron and Sharon. Let’s see some of you on our river pad-dling soon!

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C OPPER N O S E C L I P

‘Copper Nose Clip’ Points Awarded

‘Fastest Un-plannedCapsize’

Arthur Belbin 2 secs Pip Hallett 12 secs Terry Phillips 45 secs Kris Buxton Dean 38 mins Unless you know differ-ent……...Do you know of other entries into the ‘Fastest Capsize’ then please let the editor know.

Why Join the BCU?

What the British Canoe Union does for you: * It is the Governing Body for the

sport and recreation of canoeing and kayaking in the UK.

* It represents the interests of canoe-ists at local, national and internation-al level.

* Encourages people of all ages and abilities to enjoy paddling.

* Gains access to the waters. * Encourages proper and safe instruc-

tion. * Leader in the exciting areas of devel-

oping the sport and the people who participate in the various canoeing activities ranging from Olympic Class competition to leisurely partic-ipation or touring.

* Third party insurance cover * Boat insurance available * 6 free Canoe Focus magazine

Adult Basic membership is about 50p per week, or to look at it another way, all of the above benefits for a year, for the cost of a night in the pub ! Basic Membership costs per year: Adult - £24.50 Junior - 12.25 Also saves £2 per entry per day at our Slalom. Maybe we should all be mem-bers. (Ed.)

Beware! - Save Money Included in the last BCU Canoe Focus was a card advertising Peak Perfor-mance. Expecting some information about the products available from the manufacture ‘Peak’, not so, to my sur-prise a leaflet about how to send money for a specialised booklet on your per-sonal performance shortly arrived. For just £9 something, you can receive details on improving and gaining a better personal fitness performance, which should help you while canoeing. Well I haven’t sent for the booklet and suggest that you would be better served by going to the local Library which has many books on improving your health and fitness, some of which specialise in support of canoeing….good luck, Pip.

Livening Up Wednesday Club Nights

The clubs committee is very much aware that these sessions can be-come a little repetitive as a paddlers experience improves and to combat this we are running regular fun events. The first to be held was a ‘Treasure Hunt along the river with clues and prizes for some lucky paddlers. The newer paddlers need the experience of others to help them with their paddling skills and completing the fun events, so please support these evenings. Coming soon….Canadian Canoe Tug of War.

THROWLINE

Information on other Paddling

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BCU South West have managed to negotiate with Landowners etc. the following changes: * A 50% longer season for Dart-meet, with December being added to the existing season of January and February. * More permits for Dartmeet, to be 40 instead of the current 24. * More permits for the Loop, with a new daily limit of 225, instead of 200. Some other changes that will affect us:

The access at point at Hone Bridge is no longer in use, in-stead paddlers can access/egress at Waterworks Bridge inside the Dart Country Park.

The owners of the park will make free of charge changing facilities and showers, but paid from the River Dart Fund.

An optional free shuttle will be available to take paddlers and their kit to Newbridge at week-ends.

Any spare tickets for Dartmeet, for Tuesdays to Thursday inclu-sive will be available to paddlers on first come, first served basis.

Other facilities will be available at cost, including the bar, hot food, accommodation, camping and the use of their pool etc.

The local riparian owners of this river are prepared only to negotiate with the BCU and are now very supportive of the BCU and the sport of paddling. Adam Box: BCU Regional Access Officer. Icarus & Fiona Edmonds, Local Access Officers.

Paddlers or Not - You may like to know that the predications for the high-est Severn Bore during the months of August to October can be seen as fol-lows: Tuesday September 18th…. Minster Worth at 21.38 Stone Bench at 21.48 Over Bridge at 22.13 Wednesday September 19th…. Minster Worth at 22.21 Stone Bench at 22.31 Over Bridge at 22.56

Invite to come and enjoy a great weekend

at Cardington September 8th & 9th

2001 Inter Club Slalom Championships

Free Camping for Competitors

Licensed Bar & Free Disco Satur-day Evening

NEW FOR THIS YEAR If your Club is too small to make up even a part team, get together with another small club and make up a mixed team. Although you won't be eligible for one of the main tro-phies, a special trophy has been donated. See the rules in Slalom Year Book. More details from the Event Organ-iser Jim Croft, 12 Holmscroft Road LUTON LU3 2TJ Tel: 01582 651615

If you can’t make it this year, our Frome committee is seriously think-ing of including this event in next years programme - What do you think? (please let one of the committee know)

We feel that from our own Slalom held next June we will (rope in) no seriously, encourage all paddlers including novice and slightly better to come along to this event for a fun weekend. We believe that a Team may consist of up to 15 paddlers so that leaves a

lot of scope for our membership to join in this event. (By the way someone was heard to say, ‘what does the Nottingham club have that Frome doesn’t’ well we would rather say, ‘what does Frome have that Nottingham doesn’t’ - the answer……. Sean O’Gorman.)

Very Late News in…. News has been received here that three Frome Canoe Club members slid off to Nottingham for some private practising on the Friday be-fore the BBQ. Could the reason be that Pam, Rich and Jon Bonnel needed some urgent practicing be-fore being seen by the rest of us at the BBQ?

Coming in Octobers Edition of Throwline: All the usual Calendar details, reports, gossip etc. plus…. * Linz is reporting on their canoeing trip to the Alps. * What went on at the BBQ. * Our new JETTY * Slalom Jottings and Results * Answers to ‘Spot the Difference’ * Winner of the ‘Caption Competi-tion’