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Alive and Kicking - Shropshire's Premier Singles scene since 1992

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When the stresses of modern life get too much it is tempting to dream of drifting lazily down a gentle leaf fringed river with only the sound of the wind and bird song for accompaniment.  Dream no more – join us today for a guided canoe trip down the River Severn, returning on the famous, atmospheric Severn Valley railway.  “Just in case”, I suggest you wear shoes and clothing that won’t matter if they get wet and have dry clothing to change into, which will be carried in waterproof barrels.  A  picnic is also a good idea but there’s usually a stop at a local hostelry during the journey.  Pool cars at 9 am at Shrewsbury Sainsbury’s car wash or in the Severn Park, Bridgnorth, just off the A442, at 10 am.  Please book this as early as you can to ensure our group gets its slot.

See a picture!

A member's description of previous events  ............

Sylvi has arranged for us to go canoeing down the River Severn again in August. For me, this will be my fourth canoe trip on the river and I just hope that this trip will be as thoroughly enjoyable as the first two and a little less wet than the third!

The journey down-river is made in a two-seat Canadian canoe, with one person at the front to paddle and another at the rear to paddle and steer. For this reason, the heaviest member of the crew has to go at the rear of the canoe to have maximum steering effect. Make no mistake, these are not the kind of "canoe" that you see in the Championships at Llangollen (they are actually kayaks). The two-seaters are reasonably stable provided a low centre of gravity is maintained. 

The return journey is made on the delightful Severn Valley Railway where we travel in steam-hauled comfort back to Bridgnorth in a fraction of the time that it took us to paddle down-river.

The first trip was in 1995 when we went from Hampton Loade (about 6 miles south of Bridgnorth) to Bewdley. On a weekend that the weatherman said would be wet, we managed to dodge the showers for the whole trip. Nobody got wet at all, but the heavens did open while we returned by train to Hampton Loade. The techniques used by some of our crews was different, to say the least. I remember one crew going for the "maximum mileage" technique by zig-zagging from one river bank to the other, and conducting a close examination of the flora and fauna on each side as they went. Some would say that they were out of control, and I would probably agree. A member of another crew decided that it would be a good idea if she sat at the back and her male crewmate sat at the front. This was a fine idea and probably would have been better executed before they got into the canoe. Instead, the decision to swap around was made while in the middle of the river. Remember what I said about keeping a low centre of gravity? This exercise proved that the laws of physics can be broken - but only just.

The second trip was in 1996 when we travelled from Severn Park in Bridgnorth to Arley. Excellent weather again, but not all of us stayed dry. One crew had a centre of gravity problem and managed to capsize ---- twice ---- in the first 200 yards. Not a very auspicious start, but I did see one of the resident swans wearing a very nice cardigan shortly afterwards. I also seem to remember another crew going for a different maximum mileage option. They just went round and round and round and round without making a tremendous amount of forward progress. They did eventually get it sorted out........

I missed the 1997 trip, which I believe was from Shrewsbury to Atcham - a very tame section of the river, and no steam train ride!

My third trip was again from Bridgnorth to Arley, with lunch at The Lion at Hampton Loade. The dampness referred to above was not caused by inept boatmanship, but simply due to the inclement weather on the day (stair rods, cats and dogs, pi**ing down are all relevant descriptions…) Anyway, we all had a good time and nobody who was there could not say it was a “character building” experience. And nobody fell in!

Hopefully we will have good weather again this year, and steam trains too, with the additional hazards of grumpy fishermen and a few sections of "rapids" to deal with too. The views are superb, the wildlife is exquisite and the company is as good as you make it.