Terry E Oliver
River Severn Kayak Adventure
Fundraising for Alzheimer's Society
Story
Hello Folks
I'm back to do my third river kayak adventure.
1st April 2011
Down at The Lion Hotel Berriew, Wales.
Ready to start my river Severn Kayak Adventure at Pool Quay in the morning, weather overcast.
Day one :
Pool Quay to Monford Bridge, 21 miles, six hours, weather very good.
Day two :
Monford Bridge to Atcham, 22 miles, 5hours, weather still very good.
Day Three:
Atcham to Bridgenorth, 26 miles, some fairly strong head winds at times. six & a quarter hrs.
Day Four : Bridgenorth to Stourport - on Severn, 20 miles, mixed weather. five and a quarter hrs. My good friends Ken & Jane came to see me & stay over at The Gainsborough Arms Hotel.
Day Five :
Stourport - on Severn to Upton - upon - Severn. 24 miles, not easy miles either, 15 miles strong breeze head on for about 15 miles, ooouch!! Six and a half hours.
Day Six :
Upton - upon - Severn to >> not quiet sure, thinking of having a shorter day!! OK, made it to Haw Bridge only a 13 mile paddle today, three & a quarter hours, but a really good one, weather nice & sunny with not to much strong breeze, nice stretch of the tidal part of the river Severn.
My brother Brian & my cousin Tony came down on their motor bikes to see me, coffee at the Tudor Hotel where we are staying. The Tudor Hotel is very nice too, Ian & Sharon Brown have done me very well with accommodation, brilliant!!
Day Severn :
Haw Bridge to Gloucester Lock. Nine & a quarter miles, two and a quarter hours, lovely sunny day, not much breeze, a very nice part of the tidal river Severn.
"I have had no trouble from swans so far"
Day Eight :
The Gloucester & Sharpness ship canal, I hope to stop & see the old sunken barges at Purton down near Sharpness Lock. 16 miles, Five hours.
Day Nine :
Sharpness Old Lock to Beachley . The Old Ferry Inn. Launching at the Sharpness Inshore Lifeboat slipway. The Inshore Lifeboat "SARA" launches from Sharpness & Beachley.
Hope to see some friends at the Old Ferry Inn.
People from The Alzheimer's Society & The Stroke Association will also be there to greet me.
A pint of Guinness at the ready!!
A lovely day, sunny with breeze in my favour, the hardest part was the paddle across the estuary from Sharpness on the South/West bank to the North/East bank.
I have to mention one of the SARA crew members " Geoff Dawes" what a wonderful, helpful & concerned man he was about my crossing and paddling down the Severn Estuary, Geoff's knowledge of the tides was priceless.
A good, safe and interesting paddle, I like the fact that ones natural instincts kick in when on your own at one with a river, reading the rivers surface does not stop until you get out.
I arrived 10 minutes earlier than my guesstimated arrival time, two hours & twenty minutes, approximately 10 & a half miles.
Several of my good friends, family & a lady from the Stroke Association were there to greet me on the slipway next to the M48 motorway bridge plus a pint of well earned Guinness!!
At this point I want to mention about why I am going to continue to concentrate on Marine conservation. When I kayaked the river Trent in 2007 I was appalled at the amount of human made rubbish & litter that was in the river Trent & within the rivers flood defences, plastics hanging in over hanging trees & garbage caught up in reed beds.
When I kayaked the river Thames in 2009 I thought that the river Thames wouldn't be as bad as the river Trent because it's the supposed, loved river Thames!! it was much worse, I was shocked how much garbage was in & along the river Thames.
Now, the much talked about " River Severn" because, it flows through such beautiful countryside!! All I will write is this!! The Environment Agency, The Regional County Councils, Private Land Owners in the Counties that the rivers Trent & Thames flow through SHOULD be ASHAMED of them selves, for not getting together to clean up those two rivers!! THE RIVER SEVERN was FAR the WORST & it's NOT just HUMAN made garbage in the river Severn, there were dead sheep, cows, rats, swans & other wild fowl, the town areas as on the Trent & Thames are awful . . .Absolutely SHAMEFUL!!!!!!
Oh & British Waterways!! & allot of the general public!!
I am not unaware that it may not be the mentioned bodies fault that the the litter,garbage,trash,plastics & fly tipping are in & along our British canals rivers & flood defences.
The main problem for our rivers not being cleared of human litter & rubbish is finger pointing & "Archaic Riparian rights" that exist in many countries with a common law heritage.
Of course then there is the problem of "Oh there's NO money available to keep rivers free of litter, " I wonder why??"
I know that the real problem comes from people who have TOTAL DISREGARD, NO RESPECT, SELFISH PEOPLE with a STAGGERING SLOVEN IGNORANCE towards an environment that we all need to treasure,an environment that even their future children & generations NEED to survive on our planet Earth.
Quote from Roz Savage, Pacific Ocean Rower : "past carelessness in over-consumption and careless disposal"
MCS ( Marine Conservation Society) Beachwatch Report 2010 is out today. Bag it, bin it, don't flush it. http://bit.ly/gujrS9 More beach clean up days for me! Please consider helping our Rivers & Oceans!!
I say to our Government & Authoritative bodies "THERE IS NO excuse, NOT to clean up litter & rubbish from our rivers & canals"
More to come about my river Severn kayak adventure, & the two
charities of choice . . .
My river Severn adventure is to raise money for The Stroke Association http://www.stroke.org.uk/ & The Alzheimer's Society http://alzheimers.org.uk/ in memory of my Mum & Dad, I am sure that I don't have to say anything or explain about these two awful illnesses & the affect that they have on all people concerned, My brother & I could go on for Twenty Severn years worth about how a Stroke affects a loved one & how Alzheimer's affects a loved one.
It will be the first week in April, start Saturday 2nd at Pool Quay, Welshpool, Powys, I believe mid Wales.
Finish Sunday the 10th, at The Old Ferry Inn at Beachley,Chepstow next to the M48 river Severn motorway bridge by about 2.30pm, all being well!
As some of you already know I have kayaked my local river the River Trent in 2007, 167 miles, six & a half days from Stone in Staffordshire to the River Humber Estuary to raise money for the RNLI, £4,393.19p. Loved it, a wonderful river.
My second river kayak adventure was the River Thames in 2009, 186, 9 days from Cricklade in Wiltshire to Gravesend in Kent to raise money for Children in Need, £2,560.60p. Loved that also, another wonderful river.
When I kayaked the river Trent in 2007 I was within 20 minuets late from my guesstimated time, when I kayaked the river Thames I was 30 minuets early from my guesstimated time.
The Old Ferry Inn will be serving food up to 3pm, come and say hello, it's a lovely part of Britain to spend a day or stay over somewhere for the night, there will be friends, family & people from both charities there to greet me, I'll be well ready for a pint of Guinness!!
The Old Ferry Inn: Tel: 01291 622 474. Post code: NP16 7HH.
Taking on board what I have found out about the river Severn (a river that I have never kayaked on) I will not travel as many miles as I intended, the reason being, not enough flood on the upper reaches so I have to consider the environment, fish spawning time! I will not kayak down the first part of the estuary because of the dangers, places to exit safely, being a member of the (BCU) British Canoe Union & the fact that I promote Children's river & Sea safety.
I will kayak the upper reaches to Gloucester ( information from The Environment Agency's Canoeists Guide to The River Severn) then down the Gloucester Sharpness ship canal to Sharpness Lock, on Sunday the 10th I will catch the high tide at Sharpness Lock, cross over the Severn estuary on an ebb tide to the starboard side of the river & paddle down to The Old Ferry Inn ( Starboard side, right hand side going down river)) at Beachley right next to the M48 motorway bridge.
Right under the M48 motorway bridge believe it or not is an Inshore Lifeboat Station "Sara" it operates from Beachley & Sharpness, hopefully I won't need them, but I have spoke to one of the crew & they may launch as an exercise & come out to meet me, good on em!!
Below is our accommodation that my main & proud sponsor http://www.datafreight.co.uk/terry_o.php has very kindly booked myself & road support in to.
Road support being Ian & Sharon Brown owners of Datafreight & Debbie Clayton.
There is also a link to my justgiving pages on Martin Simpson's website www.martinsimpson.com
Dates & Hotel Contact Details
1/4/2011The Lion Hotel, Berriew01686640452
2/4/2011Golden Cross Hotel, 14 Princes Street, Shrewsbury01743 362507
3/4/2011As aboveAs above
4/4/2011The Swan,21 Wharfage, Ironbridge TF8 7NH01952432306
5/4/2011The Swan Inn, Knowle Sands, Bridgnorth WV16 5JL01746763424
6/4/2011The Great Western Hotel,
Shrub Hill Road, Worcester WR4 9EF08454379057
7/4/2011Tudor House Hotel, High Street, Tewkesbury01684297755
8/4/2011Edward Hotel,88-92 London Road,Gloucester GL1 3PG01452525865
9/4/2011Royal George Hotel, Tintern,Chepstow.01291689205
2/4/2011Golden Cross Hotel, 14 Princes Street, Shrewsbury01743 362507
3/4/2011As aboveAs above
4/4/2011The Swan,21 Wharfage, Ironbridge TF8 7NH01952432306
5/4/2011The Swan Inn, Knowle Sands, Bridgnorth WV16 5JL01746763424
6/4/2011The Great Western Hotel,
Shrub Hill Road, Worcester WR4 9EF08454379057
7/4/2011Tudor House Hotel, High Street, Tewkesbury01684297755
8/4/2011Edward Hotel,88-92 London Road,Gloucester GL1 3PG01452525865
9/4/2011Royal George Hotel, Tintern,Chepstow.01291689205
I will be updating my river Severn adventure all being well on a daily basis on my justgiving pages & also on twitter, my twitter name is "000kayakman"
Also putting out my justgiving pages is Kit Aid www.twitter.com/kitaid ( Our helper Terry Oliver will be doing a sponsored kayak trip, please support his great causes: http://bit.ly/hggKri http://bit.ly/fXkpHG ) part of http://www.veoliawater.co.uk/ over the last two years I have been sending footballs & tennis balls down to Veolia Water / Kit Aid.
If you go to the Kit Aid website you should be able to find an article about me & about the footballs!!
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