Canoeing 1998

Canoeing 1998 The venue - Hungerford, for a weekend of outdoor activities with a water theme. We set off by minibus and car on the Friday after school and set off down the M4. We camped at The Croft Centre; the first task was to erect the tents. Above: Front row left to right. Zoe, Clare, Karly, Justine, Polly, Aimee, Tobit, Mr W, Simon, Andrew, Jamie
Having put up the tents and unpacked, the next task for some was to start all over again somewhere else after an ants nest was discovered under the girls' sleeping bags. Sleep on the first night followed the traditional pattern of talking and joking by pupils until the early hours, and moaning by staff, although things were livened up a little by the walkie talkies someone had thoughtfully packed.
	The plan had been to paddle from Hungerford, but a mysterious water poisoning incident caused a transfer to the Thames, and a trip on Saturday morning to the Adventure Dolphin centre at Pangbourne. From there we drove upstream to Goring, and spent the day getting back. Fortunately the weather was good, and it didn't take too long for at least one person in each boat to pick up the right technique.
Above: Tyrone, Aimee, Steve, Clare (sixth form) Jamie and Louise transporting the canoe to the water's edge. Right:Tobit, Alex and an instructor looking nervous.