The Conwy is one of the UK’s classic white water rivers, a section of which, the Fairy Glen, being one of the best and most reliable grade 4+ to 5 sections we have on this island. And now it is under threat.
Paddlers travel from far and wide to paddle ‘The Glen’ – here’s American paddling god Erik Boomer being shown the lines by local hero Tom McLay and Devon’s Tom Rainey.
If you’ve not heard about this, then please take a look at the newly set up website www.savetheconwy.com.
In summary, RWE NPower are proposing to put in a 2 metre weir by the take out of Middle Conwy (above Conwy Falls). This will create a pool at normal flows, and is expected to back up into the last rapid of the Middle (or the best rapid of the Middle). The weir will be used to extract up to 75% of the Conwy’s flow into a tunnel and pipe which will be taken through neighbouring ancient woodlands and SSSIs until it is reunited with the river downstream of the confluence with the Lledr. This will result in far less water making it into the Fairy Glen.
But it’ll generate power, that’s good right?
If they are prepared to destroy a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) and risk the economic affects of loss of tourism to the area (to mention just a couple of adverse affects), surely the scheme will at least generate a lot of power? Sadly not. Even when running at maximum capacity the scheme will only generate 5 Mega Watts – about the same amount used by a small town such as Betws y Coed. The scheme’s own designer readily admitted that over certain periods of the year, and certain river levels all year, the scheme would run at just a fraction of it’s full potential, or even not generate anything at all!
When you compare the proposed output of this scheme to that of the nuclear plant being built on Anglesey, for example, it seems like a drop in the ocean – and surely not worth the destruction. I’ll accept that some people will never like the idea of nuclear, but if hydro power is what we really need, there several other viable locations within just a few miles of this site; some of which have even been surveyed and declared viable by the same contracting company!
So why is the scheme even being considered?
Put simply: money. Land-owners (in this case the Forestry Commission and Foelas Estate) will earn a lot of money from these sort of schemes; while the Green Subsidy Tax on our energy bills provides most of the money for the initial construction. RWE NPower will earn vast sums of money, but only if the scheme goes ahead. It is in their interest to present “studies” that make the site seem perfectly suitable.
Why is this so important?
Well, it’s not just kayaking that will be lost (an estimated 42% loss in days when the Fairy Glen will be paddleable). There are many rare species at risk, local businesses will be affected – especially during the many months of construction works – and the knock on affects on tourism to the valley could be massive.
This could be the start of a slippery slope: RWE NPower are also looking at sites on the Mawddach and Gain, amongst other classic Welsh Rivers. We need to put a stop to it before it’s too late and all of our rivers are piped underground, with delicate ecosystems destroyed in the process.
What can you do?
At this stage we mostly need to make people aware of what is happening. Soon RWE NPower will submit a planning permission request and request a water extraction license: this is our chance to raise objections. We may also require letters written to your MP, especially if you live in Wales. The facebook page and website will be kept up to date with this information as it happens and calls to action will be made.
- Get informed: read the articles on www.savetheconwy.com and other sources
- Stay up to date: like the facebook page for updates
- Spread the word: let other people know what is planned for this unique and beautiful place. Not just kayakers… this will affect hundreds of people from many walks of life across North Wales too.
- Add a twibbon to your facebook and twitter profiles: twibbon.com/support/save-the-river-conwy
- TAKE REAL ACTION: if you have any means to help prevent this hugely-destructive-very-little-output scheme, please use it!
EDIT: First call to action is NOW! NRW are consulting now on the future management of rivers in Wales - click here to find out what you can do to help!
Yours in boating,
Lowri (on my way to another dam-endangered whitewater mecca, the White Nile… but that’s another story)
Last weekend I was given the opportunity to show off our sport to thousands of kids across the UK. Live. No pressure…
WILD is Saturday morning TV programme which aims to show kids the wonders of the outdoors and get kids off the sofa. There’s an awesome mix of wildlife, activities and adventures; each episode being themed around a certain environment. This week’s episode was to be river themed, coming live from Cardiff International White Water.
My adventure started with an early morning drive to Geneva airport from my base at this time of year of the French Alps. A quick ‘nip’ over the channel to Bristol airport where I was collected by one of the WILD team and driven to Cardiff for the first of my rehearsals. On arrival I was amazed to see CIWW totally taken over by broadcast vans, cameras and… hang on… that’s a monitor lizard! I was introduced to the crew, presenters and wildlife who were all incredibly nice (including the monitor lizard… I even gave him a stroke!).
After unwrapping my new Jitsu 5.5 which had been kindly delivered by Palm, I got it outfitted to perfection within minutes with the new outfitting – awesome stuff! My boat was then rigged up with a GoPro with a big RF transmitter unit and battery strapped behind the backband to allow them to stream the footage live. Then it was time to rehearse… the extra weight was a little awkward but the Jitsu is soooo good! I can now claim to be the first person to have snapped one of this BBC team’s GoPro arms though. Ooops! Sorry guys…
After a very short night in a swanky hotel, we were back at the course at 5.15am ready for dressed rehearsals. Eels, otters and lizards in place, white water course and FlowRider on, it was time for the young live audience to see what was in store. It’s important to know when to cheer, scream or dance!
All of a sudden it was 8.55am and we were all stood in position waiting to go live to the nation.
I was introduced as their celebrity guest and after the lizard had done his thing, they gave me a dramatic and linguistically interesting build-up (“superhero of the water”… “sorceress of the white water”…). After paddling down for an interview in the eddy I was set off to do a minute long demo before the presenter got in a duckie and paddled down the course with me.
I had one final part to play in the final wind-up of the show. As I floated into position I noticed the inflatable crocodile was still surfing in the hole. I seized the opportunity and wrestled with it behind the presenters. See if you can spot it!
The show can be seen on iplayer for the next few weeks: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b036yrcn/Wild_Rivers/
This was one of the most outrageously fun things I’ve been a part of for years (and I’m lucky enough to do some very fun things!). It was a real honour to be an ambassador for our sport… I hope this show inspires some youngsters to come along and give paddling and freestyle a try!
p.s. The FlowRider is also AMAZING. When you next head to Cardiff; definitely give it a whirl!
Last week there was sunshine. In the UK. Even in depths of North Wales! Well, what better time to get out and put the new FX PFD to the test?
I’m so impressed with this buoyancy aid, the freedom of movement is incredible and the amount you can fit in the pocket while it stays out of the way blows my mind! OK, that’s perhaps a little dramatic… but seriously, it’s like Mary Poppins designed this!
It’s proper safe too (and not just cos it keeps to the first rule of safety: Look Cool), the shoulder straps are sewn right down to the waist making them integral to the whole system and less likely to fail when you really need them. Most other manufacturers just sow to the top seam, even on their top spec “rescue” buoyancy aids!
And all that for just £74.95! That’s less than a tank of petrol these days…
I’m looking forward to a summer of fun and adventures in mine. Where will you take yours?
Chile is a place I’d wanted to go since I’d watched VHS videos of the Futa and Claro when I was 15 years old. It really didn’t disappoint. The country is beautiful, the rivers are varied and the waterfalls clean. There’s literally a lifetime of paddling and exploring to be had there and I’m sure I’ll go back. If you’ve never been, then add it to your list. You won’t be disappointed.
After an amazing 2 months out there, I came home with bits and bobs of footage from my GoPro; so I made a little video (oh OK, RootDown did most of the editing). It doesn’t show even half of the cool stuff I was fortunate enough to paddle, see or experience out there, but hopefully it’s a little taster and a bit of fun. I hope you like it…
Here’s a few photos from my time there… again, I don’t feel they show the full story of my trip, but take a look and enjoy! There’s more on my Flickr.
Back to work now: FlowFree’s 2013 courses and trips are filling up!
It’s been a bit of shock returning to the UK from a sunny Chile in this weather, but this morning I gritted my teeth, donned my mitts and dug out my slalom boat from under the snow…
A few of us have started using Strava to time ourselves on sections of river, it’s great for training or just for getting a bit competitive with your mates. Today it was the Chipper-to-Bala challenge on the Tryweryn. If anything was going to motivate me to paddle fast, it was the fact that it was below freezing!
I was beginning to wonder if I’d gone insane at the put-in, but actually once I got going it was quite a pleasant temperature and kinda good fun! I think the fact I took out in my garden; returning to a nice cup of tea in front of a roaring fire probably made the experience all the better…
So, if you’re up for a challenge then 38 minutes from the Chipper to just above the bridge in Bala is the current time to beat (I suspect Pete Woods in his Dagger Green has already beaten that though). If you Strava, this is the segment: http://app.strava.com/segments/2386051. We use a smartphone in a waterproof case tucked into our buoyancy aid pocket with the Strava app running to record our run.
Happy racing!
Less than 24 hours after landing in Chile, I was racing head-to-head on the Rio Nuble as part of Nuble Fest. Not quite how expected to be taking my first strokes in the country… in fact it had been quite a strange 24 hours. After a long flight I arrived in Temuco, only to find my boat and bag had inconsiderately not made the plane changes I had. I was met at the airport by a motley crew of paddlers, only one of whom I sort of knew and taken many hours north for a festival I´d never heard of.
My airport pick-up
Without my bag I had no camping gear, but miraculously the airline sent a driver up after us and my gear was delivered to me in the field we were making camp in for Nuble Fest 5 hours north of the airport! Good work TAM.
After a day of racing both in kayaks and rafts, there was a presentation party in the town square with dreadlocked rappers and old men with guitars. In state of jetlagged confusion I was presented with some medals, a bottle of wine and a giant cheque. Not a bad first day!
The next day we loaded up and hauled ass to the Rio Claro where we spent a couple of days paddling the beautiful clean waterfalls known as the 7 Teacups and 22 Saltos. The river was low, but this is a very cool place. Stunning tight canyons filled with a kayakers theme park of slides and drops.
Aside from the kayaking, we saw some cool wildlife… not least this “little” fella…
Soon it was time to head to Pucon, but I´m told no Chilean adventure is complete without some vehicle mishaps. On our 5 hour drive we broke down 4 times within the first 30 minutes (3 times within 500 metres!), the rough dirt road and heavy load having taken its toll on our suspension and tyres.
A couple of hours later another tyre started to warp and we were forced to chase around a random town trying to find somewhere to buy and fit a new one at gone 8pm. After several failed attempts we found a tyre in a big hardware store and a bloke with a roadside shack to fit it as the sun set.
We finally made it to Pucon at 4.30am… Quite the epic journey! So we´re now in Pucon and many more adventures have already been had. But now I should get off the internet and go paddling…
More photos can be found in my Flickr Album
Halloween is my birthday. Yes, I’m a witch! And what better way to celebrate than a quick mission to Scotland with about 45 friends / friends-of-friends?
With only a few days to spare (and one of them spent in A&E after an unfortunate, comedy-yet-totally-sober incident with a Giant Jenga set) we bagged only a few runs but I still managed to add a tick to my list with a lovely run down the Kiachnish.
But what trip to the Fort William area would be complete without the obligatory Etive day? There’s a reason this river is such a classic…
Matt Bostock… but wezzit? Answers on a postcard…
Hammer on Triple 2.
It was fantastic to catch up with so many old paddling buddies. That’s what makes paddling great really isn’t it? Your mates. So cheers to mine who helped me celebrate my birthday with a good mix of boating, float shenanigans and fancy dress! And rightfully took the mick for my Jenga brick incident…
UK – French Alps – Lyon – French Alps – Norway – Uganda – UK – Austrian Alps – French Alps – UK
What a summer! Since May I’ve been travelling around running FlowFree trips, boating with friends, filming for upcoming projects and racing, with a very tight schedule to fit it all in! Last time I updated on here, I’d made it as far as Lyon (that blog post is here and is the reason this is called part 2!). I’m going to take you with me on a whistle stop tour of the highlights from the rest of my epic summer of paddling…
We begin back in the French Alps, around mid-June, when there was awesome river levels which were ideal for the grade 3-4 FlowFree trip – plus a few extra adventures…
Hammer time on the fournel… trying to go tandem with Geraint Anderson had rather mixed results, but was a lot of fun!
One afternoon we decided to go and investigate the top of the Biasse Valley. We looked at the so-called “Teacups” and decided they were a lot of effort for a couple of fairly manky drops, but on hiking up the other trib we found some rather exciting stuff…
Geraint Anderson getting in amongst it
One of my personal highlights from my 2 weeks here was “Guil Day”, where a bunch of us ran from above the Upper Gorge of the Guil, through the Upper Gorge, Chateaux Q, Guardian Angel and into the Middle Guil all in an afternoon. What a blast! This is one of my favourite rivers, especially in good flow.
Staircase at Twilight
Oh and I almost forgot, the annual Student Boater-x… good banter, fun races and a healthy amount of inflatables always make for a good event.
Thanks to everyone who I paddled with in France, it was most excellent. So next stop Norway and Uganda (via a couple of days downhill biking in Morzine and a very special wedding in Geneva)… Epic Summer Part 3 will be with you soon…
If you want to see more photos from the Alps (including more of the Biasse Superslide), check out my Flickr. Dates of 2013 FlowFree trips will be released soon, so if you fancy joining us keep an eye on the website and facebook page, or sign up to our newsletter.
Last week I was running a FlowFree Playboating Development Week in Lyon. We had lots of fun and managed to catch Hawaii-sur-Rhone in good conditions as well as a couple of local slalom courses. Here’s a couple of pics from the week:
One of the students on the course has written up a report of his experiences, which we’ve put on our blog: http://www.flowfree.co.uk/2012/06/trip-report-lyon-playboating-development-week/
For a full album of photos, check out our Flickr page.
I’m now out in the French Alps running more coaching & guiding trips with some awesome levels. Next, I’ll be heading up to Norway for Voss Festival before flying out to Uganda for month of both guiding and play time! Hopefully see you on the water somewhere.
Lowri
Here’s a little teaser video from our recent Colombia expedition. If this whets your appetite, we’ll be showing more HD video along with telling tales of our epics and adventures on our lecture tour, so check out the dates and venues. And if there isn’t a talk happening near you, get in touch on info@flowfree.co.uk and we can probably get one sorted!
Enjoy! 
