OLD FATHER THAMES

Nick Dennis

WCHA UK
The UK Chapter held their autumn meet over the weekend of 17/18/19 October. The weather was set fair with an anti-cyclone stationary over the UK although rain was predicted for Sunday afternoon. Our base was Bolney Ferry Boathouse at Lower Shiplake on the banks of the Thames in Oxfordshire.

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I arrived with my PAL at noon on the Friday and was joined by Alick with his self built strip canoe. Alan and Sam arrived with their wood canvas UFO and Sams newly restored Northland of Huntsville, We pitched our tents and then did what is a natural occurance for a Friday afternoon; we paddled to the pub. We header up the Hennerton backwater upstream towards the George and Dragon at Wargrave. The autumnal colours were fantastic.
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At the pub we all opted for a session beer and a couple of pints soon saited our thirsts. The air was permeated by the odour of old Land Rover and we realised that Andy had driven to join us for a swift pint before he drove on to the Boathouse.




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We then headed back to the Boathouse along the main river going with the slight flow.
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Over the evening Delia, John and Sarah arrived so we all sat down to enjoy a lasagna supper finised off with apple crumble and custard before retiring for the night. Laura, Ben, Sue and the Munchkins arrived later . We slept to the sounds of screech owls in the trees above the tents, deer and foxes barking in the adjacent field but aching limbs and the ale effect sent us to sleep.

On Saturday morning we decided to split the day into two paddles; David Millward was due to arrive at some stage but no one knew (including David) exactly what time . We decided to do a short paddle into Henley and back. By the time we got back to the Boathouse at 12.30pm for lunch David had arrived.

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Heading to Henley
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Henley
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The return from Henley having been chastised by the rowing cox for paddling on the wrong side of the river!
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After lunch a group of canoes set off upstream with David and inevitably the target was the pub again. I stayed at the Boathouse to prepare supper and chew the fat with Delia and others over canoe related matters. I was finishing off a 3 day beef brisket chilli for 20 folks.
We had a good array of canoes on show. Blue is a popular colour!
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David was loaded and ready for a trip.

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Lots of leaves had fallen adding to the colour.
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On the Saturday evening we all wined and dined around the fire pit with others coming to join the group. Some departed Saturday night whilst a few stayed over and managed another paddle before the rains came on Sunday. I went to see a guy about a canoe which he wanted to rehome and I was chosen to become the new custodian of a lovely birchbark canoe which will be my next project over the coming months. I have taken it off the car in the dark and will need to do a full assessment of what is needed over the next few weeks.

Thank you to everyone who attended the weekend; a fantastic time was had by all.

Nick
 
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