The first term is drawing to a close, so I thought best to provide all of our new members with a summary of our term. Thanks to all those of you who have participated in the canoe club so far, and for those of you who haven’t, there are still plenty of opportunities for you to do so.

The first meeting after Christmas will be the first Wednesday back in the new term, hope to see you all there!

Anyway, enough of the formalities, here is what we have already been up to.

The training nights at the pool opened with a bang, with the £4000 worth of new equipment providing great fun for both the beginners and the more experienced of us. Naturally we ended up in the pub, and then onto the cheap and cheerful Venue nightclub, where there were many drunken antics, mostly provided by myself and don’t worry I certainly suffered in the morning. If you fancy giving the canoeing a bit of a miss, but still fancy meeting up with us, then come down to Scruffy Murpheys any time after 9.00pm. We usually go on to a club and then a kebab, so come on down.

When we are not canoeing in the pool, we are out and about England, doing some great paddling. The trips started off nice and easy for our beginners, and a great warm up chance for the rest. We spent a day in the Burrs country park, just outside of Bury, one of the sunniest days paddling I have ever had in England. Unfortunately we have been unable to provide many day trips so far because of the amazing weather that we have experienced in the past month or so. We hope to have more day trips planned for next term, for the people who cannot make the weekend trips.

The first weekend trip to Lake Vrnwy in Wales set a very high standard for the rest, with some excellent paddling and some brilliant socialising. The nights entertainment started harmlessly with a small talent competition, ending in what can only be described as a very bad drunken rendition of the Full Monty, (Yes!! We did go all the way). The accommodation was amazing, we stayed in a lovely little cottage with it’s very own roaring fire. The food was glorious, very cheap and cheerful. There were two great days of paddling, beginners- Claire and Tamlin had a wild time.

The second weekend trip to the Lake District brought back several old members of the club. Yet again, the accommodation lived up to the high standards that we have come to expect. The first days canoeing was perfect for the absolute beginner, and the second day can only be described as mental, with some pretty hair raising falls. The canoeing wasn’t the only highlight of the trip, Polly obtained quite a nasty black eye whilst trying to handstand whilst drunk, she couldn’t even stand up straight, I don’t know how she expected to handstand. We also had a brief run in with the local law enforcers, if it wasn’t for our American driver, we would have had to pay quite a nasty fine.

The third and latest weekend to the North East has already got quite a reputation, and it didn’t fail us this year. Once again we manage to get the plushest cottages and at a very reasonable rate, (cheaper than a night at Pandora’s). The canoeing again was entertaining and the evenings events were led by the drunken Beast. The food was impeccable, provided by the hottest chefs this side of Didsbury, Jamie ‘Sizzling Scally’ Sands and myself, Mike ‘Salted Cockles’ Collinson.

Anyway, that has been the year so far, we hope that you will all return in the New Year and help create some more classic moments that we can tell future generations.

Just a reminder, that if you have not had a chance to appear at the pool yet, there are still several weeks of term left, every Wednesday at 7. We always make an appearance in Scruffy Murpheys afterwards, so you can always catch us there for a chat. There are one or two river trips left this term, not too late to lose your canoeing virginity. There are several social events planned for the future also, there will be a Canoe Club Christmas Curry towards the end of term, get your names on the list. Next term there will be many socials, such as a night at the dog track, probably more curry nights, and plenty of piss ups. Feel free to contact any of use for more info.

Chairman- Mike Collinson 07773939040

Fat Bastard and Wife- Bob & Rhian McKee 0161 445 9503

Polly Parson- 07715932246

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Last modified: Thursday November 22, 2001.