…writes Sally Grainger

On the morning of 28th July, 11 Stourbug members swapped pedal power for paddle power when they took to the River Severn to canoe from Bridgnorth to Arley.

First off was canoe number 7, containing ‘The three oars’ those of Sally, Sandra and Deb. The overall distance was 10.5 miles, however with much meandering Ros and Liz probably paddled more like 15! Many washing lines… or is that fishing lines? were encountered along the way. We were abused by fishermen who said we shouldn’t be allowed on the river until we knew what we were doing! But as ardent cyclists we’re used to being shouted at.

We alighted the canoes at Hampton Loade for lunch at The River and Rail pub. Denise Mac and Helena ‘overshot’ the landing beach at great speed and promptly ditched their canoe mid river and waded to shore.
Much fun was had by all and the river journey came to an end at Arley where we boarded the Severn Valley Railway for our trip back to Bridgnorth.

So shattered were we after a long day paddling the only sound on our 40 minute return journey was that of Sandra snoring….oops I mean the ‘choo choo, chug chug of the steam engine.
Marvellous!