Kids' noticeboard

Rode (summerset) to Farleigh Hungerford(summerset)

It was a frosty morning when mum and dad suggested that we should go canoeing and I was a bit reluctant.

We launched, midday, on Sunday 4^th Feb, from the car park of the mill at rode.

We went down a mini weir and went a little way down the mill stream before hauling the boats(me and dad in one, Laurie and mum in the other,)onto the little island. We then lowered them down on the other side , below the weir, before paddling down-stream. We paddled under the bridge, finding some baby rapids on the other side. We rounded the corner and saw a white goose on the grassy riverbank. We paddled on over the still water, our paddles slipping in and out of the water, making a satisfying lapping noise. A little while later we reached the first REALY exciting part! Langham farm!

Langham farm is really cool .first, we went down the rapids but we didn’t expect the final drop to be as big as it was! Then we had to paddle like mad to get under the bridge and down the weir, which would have been scary had we not done it before ! The feeling you get at the bottom is a mix between excitement and eagerness because you want to go again and again and again!

After that we paddled on a little way to the best bit , the V .the v is a huge concrete v in the middle of the river, with water flowing down it. At the bottom is a stopper wave that is sometimes big and sometimes small. As we approached it we were really excited! We could hear the water rushing down it. As we went down we figured out that it was best to move as far backwards as possible. At the bottom we got really splashed as our boats pierced the stopper wave like a train breaking out of the fog.

When we went we paddled to the right of the island. Later we came across a weir. We then stopped for a picnic on the bank , by the little island. We had soup and crackers and mackerel pâté and juice.