There were two Squirrels drinking in a bar.  After too many Chestnut Beers,  One Squirrel said to the other Squirrel.  “…I think we should make use of these long summer days and improve our kayaking skills…”  The other Squirrel called Garfunkel said “…Yes Jeffery I think that would be a good idea, we could also begin Horseback Archery Lessons….”

And then the UUJCC back to basics Shaw’s Bridge meets where born.  Covering the BCU 3 star syllabus, many Squirrels flocked to Shaw’s Bridge every Wednesday at 7 over the summer.

The Squirrels where told at the start of every lesson to ‘over exaggerate every rotation’ and ‘And lean slightly forward into an Aggressive position.’  There was particularly stupid Squirrel who had to be told many times that 3 parts of a forward stroke are called the catch, the draw and the slice.

However the remaining Squirrels got better and better at the strokes and enjoyed learning them outside of the Pool, in the nice weather and in a body of water greater than 25m x 10m which was getting very small for some Squirrels.

The teaching then moved on to the white water section at Shaw’s.  Again all the Squirrels enjoyed the structure and regular kayaking sessions in the white water and began to play more and more in it.  

One Squirrel had only ever rolled in the pool before and when playing on the second drop down from the bridge he was doing really well surfing the standing wave, but had forgotten what the coach Squirrel said he would have to do to get out of it.  As a last resort he put on no.3 edge which quickly turned to no.4 edge, then 5, 6 and stopped at 7.  When Melvin could see the River Bed and could no longer breath air, he soon realised he was under the water he managed to Roll!  The Squirrel was really happy with his first River Roll in the flow and all his Squirrel friends still owe him a pint of Chestnut Beer.

Unfortunately the Back to Basics sessions stopped as the days got shorter.  As the Squirrels couldn’t find Night Vision Goggles in their size but, some of the Squirrels are still out at Shaw’s Bridge practicing at the weekends and are really looking forward to the rain this winter, to get out and do different Rivers.