New Year 2005
From ICCC
People
With varying levels of attendance...
- Harry
- Claire
- Robin
- Nick
- Theo
- Jeurgen
- Alice
- Rob
- Jon
- Alexa
- Jim B (Alexa's dad)
- Tim
- Nic (Tim's Dad)
- Amie
- Emily
- Jim
Trip Report
We decided a repeat of the previous New Years antics was definately in order, but from the start it was clear that this would be a complicated one. Everyone wanted to show up for some paddling on different dates, and drive to Yorkshire from different Christmas holiday locations. Chaos! and to make matters worse, those club members who normally take up the organisation challenge decided they were fed up of it, and went on strike, leading to a bizarre situation in which Harry was labelled "the most organised". Harry responded by throwing technology at the problem. Ludicrously complex spreadsheets and wiki websites were put in place, and eventually we all came together...
Theo Nick and Jeurgen were the only ones driving up in the the minibus from London. Unfortunately they never quite made it, after toppling over on the M1 in Derbyshire. Luckily the only injuries where to Nick, his laptop and a throwline. The police obligingly rescued the cans of beer which had rolled out of the broken rear window all over the motorway. Tim's dad came to the rescue, complete with trailor for the boats. They all spent the night in Doncaster watching DVD's and reducing the volume of the rescued beer bucket. Alice also never quite made it, electing to drive up with Jon the next day instead. Claire and Robin were a little late, so the only one who actually made it to the agreed meeting place on time was "the most organised" Harry, and he was delighted to be spending time in a pub, so all was well. The afternoon paddling plan was abandoned due to lack of boats and paddlers, so Harry Clare and Robin checked into the hut.
On Tuesday morning everyone finally met at Kettlewell to paddle the Wharfe. Not quite everyone. Alice and Jon didn't beleive that we would put in at 10a.m., so they missed the boat. The water was cold as predicted, and Alexa kicked off the swimming, but a pleasant paddle was had by all. Theo and Tim ran Linton Falls at the Takeout with many spectators.
As we went to the car park to get changed we were greeted by Alexa's dad (Jim) with a huge fully equipped motor home, providing shelter from the rain and cups of tea. What luxury! The monster van was thereafter referred to as 'Mission Control'. And it seemed we would be needing 'Mission Control' assistance a little longer because in the evening we discovered R.A.C. would not be providing a replacement van on the union breakdown insurance, because they'd got us on a technicality. Thanks a bunch!
Next day everyone met up at the Young Offenders Institute in Barnard Castle at 9am. We didn't see any young offenders, but Jim P showed up, released on parol from his girlfriend. In the car park Claire had a quick driving lesson, then Theo, Jon, Jim, Juergen, Alice, Alexa, Claire, Robin, Tim and Harry ran the Tees from Barnard Castle to Wiston Bridge. Alexa had a swim and decided to get out at Whorlton, the half way point where mission control handiliy intercepted her.
Afterwards we drove back up and Theo, Tim, Jim and Claire ran the upper section from High Force to Low Force. This should have been called gale force due to being blown down the river. Interesting bits included the "dog-leg" grade 4 rapid and low force itself (a 10ft waterfall). Everyone ran the drop with Jim experiencing complete submergence and Claire playing with the stopper for extra excitement.
'Mission control' ran out of Diesel but thanks to some navigational genius involving autorute express, Nick's battered laptop and a digital camera, Jon was able to get to Darlington in the nick of time for renting a new Van.
On Thurday 30th we paddled the Ribble. Helwith Bridge (where we were staying) down to Settle. Robin despite having very little paddling experience had managed the previous days paddling swim free. His luck run out at the start of this river. The more technical sections above the 'two bridges' rapid caused him three swims in short sucession, culminating in a nasty tooth chipping injury. Stainforth force presented a rather forceful looking towback, and so only Tim attempted it. Muppetry meant we had only 1.5 throwbags (with the M1 having eaten at least a half) Luckily they weren't needed. As Theo didn't realise his digital camera didn't compensate for daylight saving hours he sent Tim frantically paddling ahead thinking he would miss the last train from Settle to Leeds. Harry had forgotten dry clothes, and so we slung him in the back of the van with all the other wet gear. He sat in pitch blackness, and only after the journey realised the van had an inside light.
On new years eve we headed over to the Duddon, in the west Lake district. This was worth the drive. One of the few English rivers we have ever seen with crystal clear water and grassy banks. Emily got down everything with good high braces and handrolls.
After the river Rob unfortunatly ran over Nick's foot. Perhaps he decided that it would be compassionate to Theo to have a little accident of his own. Nick was left hobbling, but nothing was broken, (it turns out just torn...) and it gave him a good excuse to stay off the dancefloor that night.
New years eve cellebrations took place in the 'Helwith Bridge' pub, where the local people made us feel most welcome (nice change from Wales). In fact Theo had an interesting time with the barmaid. The less said about that the better. Suffice to say he was glad Harry didn't have his camera.
Next day we did a lot of faffing around before finally ending up at the put in for the Lune, at Teebay. Mission control got a bit of scrape on the way down the dangerously narrow lanes. Near the end of the river we encountered carnage on the strid, with Robin deciding that swimming the rapid would be far more exciting than paddling it. But no one was paddling to full ability, due to the hangover. A very pretty river though.
Our final days paddling was the Kent, where we met Tim, Amie and Tim's Dad, Nic. The water was cold but the levels were OK and everyone bimbled down most things sucessfully. Theo was comically backlooped in the gorge section, but if he insists on paddling a stupidly small boat things like that are almost inevitable! Right at the end of the trip we all did Force Falls blind for comedy value. After the river, some set off on the long journey home whilst Theo, Tim and his Dad sneaked in a quick descent of the nearby Leven. The highlight of this was backbarrow falls - a big un portageable grade four that drops away under a low bridge. Theo made up for earlier muppetry with the best line of the day. They did get stranded at the takeout for a while as Jurgen (driving the minibus) missed the turning for the takeout and tried to do a scenic tour of the lakes.
Big thanks to Alexa's dad and Tim's dad for lending substantial vehicular support, without which we would surely have made a disaster of a crisis. As it was, we all enjoyed an excellent week of Yorkshire paddling!
