By Richard Harpham
Bio
Richard Harpham, FRGS, is a human powered adventurer, coach and inspirational speaker who has completed over 11,000 miles of expeditions by kayak, canoe, SUP and bike www.richadventure.com
Richard runs the award winning Canoe Trail watersports and adventure business with his wife Ashley. Thanks to BAM Clothing, Paramo, Valley Sea Kayaks and SilverBirch Canoes for sharing the dream. www.canoetrail.co.uk
Foreword: Rich Adventure
Musings from my world of adventure and paddling
The winds of change seem to be rustling in the trees as the weather has cooled. I think, like many, I am hoping for a burst of hotter temperatures to signal we did get a summer. Of course, as paddlers, the autumn and winter months often means water in the rivers and more epic paddling days. A quick recommendation for late Hendri Coetzee’s book ‘Living the Best Day Ever’, as a source of inspiration for your paddling adventures. His journeys make incredible reading with stories of running some of the biggest water on the planet dodging rapids and the local wildlife. I previously met his teammate from paddling the length of the White Nile, Pete Meredith back in 2007, aka the film, ‘The Longest River’.
The Olympics and Paralympics have flown by with a fantastic team effort from Team GB and medals for Liam Heath (bronze) in the 200m K1, Mallory Franklin (silver) in C1 slalom, Emma Wiggs (gold) in the Paracanoe Outrigger, Charlotte Henshaw (gold) in the KL2, Emma Wiggs (silver) in the KL2, Laura Sugar (gold) in the KL3 and Stuart Wood (bronze) in the KL3, Jeanette Chippington (bronze) in the VL2 and Rob Oliver (bronze) in the KL3 Incredible stuff, we salute you. I was particularly chuffed to learn that Mallory had attended the University of Bedfordshire, continuing our proud tradition of Olympic success from a small market town with a big river (The Great Ouse). Hopefully, it will inspire the next crop of Olympians, with Paris only three years away and slightly more local to us.
We have been out and about paddling some stunning locations on our travels in the southwest and north Wales which has included sea kayaking Boscastle to Tintagel, surf kayaking at Bude, Fowey harbour, River Dee around Llangollen, Ironbridge and Jackfield Rapids and the River Conwy, finishing at Conwy Castle. We have flipped from wave ski to SUP, from canoe to sea kayak, which is, of course, the versatility of the sport we love. Same, same but different.
Top-Down Kayak Challenge
While sea kayaking and SUP’ing from Boscastle, we met the lovely Roy Beal from Seaton, finishing sea kayaking from John O’Groats to Lands End in a wooden sea kayak, raising awareness for environmental issues and carbon-neutral travel. His Top-Down Kayak Challenge was undoubtedly an incredible undertaking and worth connecting with @ https://www.kayakingforcharity.co.uk. We shared a brief time on the water, and it was clear we were kindred spirits. Well done, Roy!
As I finish this piece, it is a few days after the Bushcraft Show 2021, a real feast of outdoor types enjoying green spaces. Normally our Canoe Trail team would be running the water sports activities, but blue-green algae put paid to that ☹ Instead, we spent time talking to people about our upcoming expeditions and customer trips around the UK. It was lovely sharing our passion for rivers, lochs and our stunning coastline.
I had two speaking gigs on the main stage sharing tales of my human-powered exploits, and I can honestly say it was lovely to be back with a live audience. I hope they felt the same way! Other speakers included Jason Ingamells, Megan Hines and the rousing Ray Mears. Undoubtedly my highlight of the show was spending a few hours chatting with Ray about places paddled, adventures and the wilder side of life at the woodland banquet. Like minds and all that!
Let’s make this autumn and winter a time of paddling adventures.
