River Mersey Open Canoe Trip

With a reasonably early morning meet at the compound, we met Mike A. and Keith and helped load our chosen open canoe.  In memory of Gary, I wanted his favourite red one and knew he’d approve. 

A speedy turnaround meant we were soon at Burnage Rugby Football Club, met by our fellow paddles, Ian and Mike McC.  Together we offloaded canoes and while some took cars to the get-out we portaged 5 boats to the River Mersey.  This is where I appreciated the need for actual river boots rather than the thin neoprene wet shoes I had on.  The football club members were lovely and allowed me use of their facilities… very important. 

I’d looked at the weather earlier the night before and layered up, and no, 2 base layers is just perfect thank you.  The wind was up at around 12mph with good gusts of twice this.  This didn’t bother me or Col as we paddled in tandem; Keith however was occasionally caught out and I wondered why he was tangled in the long bank foliage.  The day was chilly and dry (despite the high chance of rain), the water flowed well and 5 open canoes gently paddled and floated along with the occasional ripples and bounces.  Keith expertly tested the weir by Northenden and gave it a 50/50 pass rate.  The rest of us decided to portage!  Again, I wished I owned river boots.  The banks were high, steep and super muddy but the Mikes and Ian rallied around and helped pull up canoes. 

This seemed like an opportune time to stop for lunch and hot drinks as we watched high-viz workmen scratch their heads over repairs to the weir.  Suitably refuelled and warm we set off again.  The River Mersey was lovely with its weaves, twists and turns.  Although the high banks prevent you from seeing any distant surrounding landscape there were plenty of walkers and joggers to wave at.