Saturday paddles are on local rivers and run throughout the year. In general, they are open to active members of the club, or those who have joined us for a new members session and are of at least British Canoeing Paddle Discover standard (formerly BCU 1*).
The paddle starts from the base at 9.30 a.m. and typically finishes by 12.30, depending on the route taken. Access to the local rivers is via the brook running next to our club base. See our list of the routes we normally paddle.
A note for new members/improvers: As a club, we do not allow those paddlers with little to no experience in paddling to join our regular Saturday paddles. All new members must attend at least a new members session before attending a Saturday paddle. This allows one of our coaches, leaders or instructors to assess your confidence and skills.
For those paddlers with a small amount of experience, the club will coach you and help you develop the skills and confidence to be able to paddle with us on these longer Saturday river trips. To help with this, the club may put on additional Saturday morning lake sessions, or additional 'improvers' river experiences for club members.
All active members are welcome to bring their own boat, or, borrow one of the club boats. Please note, that the borrowing of boats is on a first come, first serve basis.
A note about Park Run: On a Saturday morning Hitchenbrooke Country Park plays host to Park Run at 9:00. This means that, from about 8:30, the car park gets busy and you may struggle to get a parking space. HCC recommends arriving early, or, parking on Bromholme Lane. Please also be mindful that one of the Park Run routes runs right past the clubhouse.
Wednesday paddles are on the lake and/or local rivers and run from April to September (inclusive). The lake sessions are suitable for all active members.
All required safety equipment - personal flotation device/buoyancy aid, helmets (if required), paddles etc. can be provided. All active members are welcome to bring their own boat, or, borrow one of the club boats. Please note, that the borrowing of boats is on a first come, first serve basis. The club asks for a £1 contribution for borrowing a boat. On new member session nights, the attending leader/coach may ask for specific boats to be used by the new members.
On a Wednesday, sessions start at the base at 6pm and are about 2 hours long, depending on the sunset.
Pool sessions run on Sundays between October and April. These sessions focus on learning skills in the warm and clean water of the Huntingdon Leisure Centre swimming pool. These include preventing capsize and what to do in the event of capsize, paddle rolls and basic self and group rescues.
For pool sessions, active members are welcome to arrange to borrow a club boat or can bring their own. Please note: Huntingdon Leisure Centre place strict rules on our use of their facilities, including clean boats.
Please note: New member sessions within a pool setting take place in the Spring (February to April) only.
To see more information and book a pool session please see the Events section.
We are a very friendly club, always eager to welcome new members to the club, irrespective of experience. We have qualified coaches and leaders across a variety of crafts (kayak, Canoe, soon-to-be SUP), and a variety of water (flat, white water, etc.) who can teach, coach, and help you learn and improve to varying levels. The club can also look to put you in touch with other specialist training providers if the club leaders are unable to help.
For full details on new members sessions, please visit How to Start Paddling
We run several whitewater trips throughout the year. Our regular trips include the rivers Tryweryn and Dee in North Wales, Symonds Yat, the Dart, the Usk, and many other UK rivers. We are regulars at various whitewater courses including Lee Valley, Holme Pierrepont, and Nene White Water Centre (Northampton Active). We try and have a progressive programme of introductory white water paddling starting with learning flat water basics and moving on to experience white water at Cardington, then to an intro to paddling white water course, before progressing to rivers such as Matlock or playing at Symonds Yat.
We attend several mass paddling events per year such as the flatwater Doggy Paddle and the white water Tyne Tour.
Historically, on Sundays in the Summer, we could sometimes be found playing in the mill race at Houghton and regularly took part in group paddles further afield in the Eastern Region. We are always looking for new opportunities as a club.
