I still remembered last year’s Nottingham Trainee Weekend, and I had been excited for weeks about going again... We were amongst the first to arrive safely at Holme Pierrepont’s camp site on Friday night, but in true Addlestone Canoe Club style, members were turning up until as late as midnight (thanks for waking everybody up, Sean). We early ones were eager to get on the water straight away but were curbed by Slalom Control informing us that the course was already closed for the day, so we were reduced to a tour down the footpath.

The reactions naturally were quite different, as our lot was composed of all standards of paddlers from experts like Kev and Jezz to newcomers such as Gary, Mark, Sonia and Jerry who had never seen Nottingham before. Kev was slightly miffed because he had wanted to try out the Storm playboat he had hired from his best friend, George Woods of Whitewater the Canoe Centre! We all found the sheer idea worth a trip to the local pub (surprise, surprise) for a so-called “couple of beers” to celebrate “Mad Kev’s” living up to his standard.

Three hours - and a lot of drinks later - the motley crew left the pub and after the usual amount of discussion, found that it would be great fun to go clubbing as rumour had it that the male-female ratio was about 1:5!

Due to the previous night’s escapades, the morning was a bit of a nightmare... The non-clubbing part of the group got up at some reasonable hour and, needless to say, took great pleasure in shaking all the night bats out of their sleeping bags. We now wished we had gone to sleep instead of clubbing. Eventually, we surfaced and off we went down to the river. Again, mixed feelings accompanied us down the course. Those who had seen it the night before thought the flow was not too bad (until they saw the bottom section, that is!), but those who had never been near white water before were unsure whether they wanted to go on it or not. We managed to convince everybody to give it a go, though, because otherwise it would have been a wasted journey for them. “Get better by getting wetter”, as Kev usually says... So the first half of the day was enjoyed by all ACC members on the water. Most beginners practised their “technical exits” (=insider jargon for a swim - Ed.), but as the water levels gradually rose it was time for the experts to let down their hair and play the course. We should have all been off the water by 6pm but the Club Rebels - Kev and Jezz - got themselves into trouble with Slalom Control, playing deaf to their repetitive call-outs. In the end, Jezz innocently pointed to himself and Control shouted slightly annoyed “Yes, you” which brought an end to this.

Not to the rest of the fun for the ACC, however, as that went on at the camp site. Graham and Sean prepared a superb BBQ meal for all of us (here comes a big thank you for you!) while the rest got animated reducing the beer reservoirs. After having eaten our fill, we set off for the local fairground, but for some reason it seemed that we had walked a million zillion miles coming nowhere close. Fortunately, there was this nice beergarden by the wayside... (We learnt only the day after that this was actually within 5 minutes walking of the Fair!)

Sharing a common lack of sleep on Sunday morning after this corporate nightly activity, we ALL got up later this morning and consequently, the flow was already rising when we arrived at the course, so not everyone got on. Carl was rearing to get into the Muncher, fearless as usual (yes, he is the one who paddles that little red nutter boat). I tried to show off my playboating skills as the water got progressively higher but had to find myself upside down most of the time. I did conquer the Muncher in the end, though - yeah!

As the afternoon drifted on, it was Phil’s turn to try and show us how to do it properly. He paddled Jezz’s Spud for that purpose but much to his dismay kept flying from side to side hitting the wall every time. Jezz kept count with each bang from the bank - “Phil, that’ s 1£ you owe me; that’s 2£ you owe me; that’s...” - you get the idea.

There was a lot more going on, far too much to mention, and I believe everybody was having loads of fun and truly enjoying themselves. The Nottingham Trainee Weekends are always a great experience and those who have not yet been able to go - don’t delay, get your tickets for next year’s session as soon as they are available and make sure you are not missing out again!!!

See you on the water!

by Neil Leahy, September 1998