Stafford – River Trent Touring Trip – 18th June 2016
Disclaimer: Some descriptions of moving water in certain parts of this report have been exaggerated (according to my family!).
OK all you experienced paddlers. You’re going to read this and scoff….
What seemed, to me, to be rushing, boiling, turbulent water, would probably look like a mill pond on a sunny day to you. What to me was an heroic driving turn into an eddy at the back end of a deadly strainer, would hardly be noticed by persons skilled in the art of white water. This trip was (to some of us anyway) quite a challenge, and I for one felt quite proud of myself after taking on the mighty River Trent and winning!
After having anxiously watched the rain bucketing down for most of the week, I made my way to the starting point at the Canalside Café in Stafford, with what seemed like a swarm of butterflies in my stomach. Once there I was greeted by Martin Stretton who had a calm and untroubled look on his face as he handed me the “In Case of Emergencies” form to fill in. You know; next of kin, blood type, last will and testament, etc. (when it came to declaring any illness, I was tempted to write “suicidal tendency to go boating on flooded rivers”).
We all unloaded boats and kit by the side of the cafe before the car shuttle was organised. The vehicles were duly driven a short distance to the ‘get-off’ point on the outskirts of Armitage then the drivers were delivered back to the start so we could grab a quick drink in the café. After that, and a safety briefing, there was no choice other than to commit ourselves to the water.
The plan was to navigate the Trent & Mersey canal south for about ½ a mile before a short, very muddy portage to the River Trent which runs near to the canal at that point. After travelling down the Trent for six or seven miles we would then portage from the river back to the canal for a mile long paddle to where the cars were left.
Martin Stretton was up front as leader in his open boat. Kat and Alice Smith followed in their lovely shiny open boat (yes Neil, we ALL touched it ha ha!). Liz Owen, Sara Wright, Sarah Powell, Chez & Russell and myself were in our kayaks. Ro Puttergill took up position at the rear in his kayak acting as ‘safety boat’.
After ½ mile on the canal getting warmed up we came to the first portage. We got our boats onto the bank and went to have a look at the River Trent from the old Essex Packhorse Bridge. The river was quite high and (to me) was flowing quickly, but Martin was confident that we would be safe and would enjoy it so we all went back to fetch our boats and drag them through the mud to the river bank.
After stopping for group photos we got into the water… well, most of us did. Sarah thought it would be a good idea to fall into the mud whilst getting into her boat, so poor old ‘Bessie’ (Sarah’s kayak) was liberally coated with mud from her seat to her footrests. After cleaning herself off as best she could, Sarah joined us as we grouped up in a calm part of the river. And, after a warning from Martin about keeping clear of the bridge piers, off we went.
Now, when I got home that night, I swore that the water was moving at the pace of a galloping horse, but after looking at the videos, my wife wasn’t impressed. It turns out that when you’re in your boat, the water moves at the same speed as you are moving. Any videos that you try to impress your family with will only be greeted with yawns and shrugs of the shoulders!
Anyway, it turns out that paddling along a river in flood is great fun. We were barreling along at quite a pace for what seemed like ages. All we had to do was pay attention to Martin or Ro’s instructions (some verbal, some visual) and stay away from any trees or other debris (I read about strainers in a kayaking book – I haven’t slept since!). The routine was to keep going unless Martin (at the front) told us to stop. He would sometimes go a little ahead round a bend to make sure the river was safely navigable. We would typically follow, when signalled, in single file until the river opened up again.
When you travel down a fast flowing river you use a different muscle group to those you use on a flat lake, so I was glad when the call came to stop for lunch. This is when you realise that wearing a shorty cag and short wet-suit bottoms means that you must keep a good lookout for stinging nettles. Well, I will in the future anyway!
After lunch, the open boats were boarded and the rest of us seal launched down the bank into the water and got underway. The main thing we were practicing all day was breaking into and out of eddies. This is when poor Liz managed to go swimming. She knew that she was going to go in because I saw her take a huge gulp of air before disappearing under the waves (raging torrent remember!). She bobbed up safely enough and Martin was soon with her, but getting onto shore proved very tricky due to the aforementioned stinging nettles. After what seemed like ages, boat, paddle and occupant were re-united and the expedition carried onwards.
The second swimmer of the day was Sarah. She was making her way underneath a bridge arch when a huge underwater log stopped her in her tracks. The moving water flipped the boat in an instant and out she came. Luckily, the water wasn’t deep so she waded to safety. She was very proud of the fact that she kept hold of her paddle but poor old Bessie filled with water and made her way down-river along with her straw hat. Ro soon had a tow-line attached to Bessie but found it almost impossible to paddle back to shore as the boat was full of water. He paddled furiously just to stay in one place before Chez managed to push the boat a little towards the bank so that Sarah could grab the tow-line and pull it ashore. Never mind all that though…. I managed to save the hat! (Pauses for applause).
While this was going on, Kat and Alice had to canoe through a different arch which caused Martin a bit of a worry. He had to wait until they came out the other end before he could see that they were safe. I could see that they were ok though, so no worries.
Shortly after Sarah’s swim, and all too soon, we reached the second portage and had to say farewell to the raging waters of the mighty Trent (ahem). This meant having to transport our boats across a footbridge and through a long, dark, very steep tunnel beneath the railway lines and uphill to the canal. Luckily, I had my kayak trolley with me and pulled my boat (the Frog) quite easily to the canal side. I used the trolley again to transport Bessie (I made sure that I kept away from the open boats in case anyone asked me to help!).
Group photos were again taken prior to the short trip down the canal to where the cars were parked. Sara used my phone to take the group photos so we got her to pretend to be standing with us so that I could ‘Photoshop’ her in later. On the way down the canal, we went past a lovely pub called the Plum Pudding before passing through a long, narrow tunnel which lead to the car park and the end of the trip. Best thing about the tunnel was the sound of Sarah howling like a wolf!
Once we had gotten changed and fetched the two cars left at the start, we loaded the kayaks onto various car roof racks (and unloaded them again to get through the car park barrier – Chez & Russell ha ha!) then we headed to the Plum Pudding for a nice drink and de-brief.
Great company, great trip. I look forward to doing it again one day. Thanks again to Martin Stretton and Ro Puttegill for all their hard work.
Ady Steele
Phil Riley Edit – Last time I went that car park barrier was held shut with a nut and bolt, I seem to remember that you were there too Chez and Russell 🙂
Trip Video