Nottingham White Water Course - 5th December 2015

I've been wanting to paddle the artificial white water course at Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham for years. As a student I sent some money off that started the fundraising to get the course built and it was finally constructed in 1986. So it's only taken me nearly 30 years to get there.

The river Trent that supplies the water for the course was very high, and this meant the lowest drops were washed out, but the remaining features were quite interesting and lively.

We "warmed up" in the pool above the course by doing some rolls. It was freezing, and this put me off doing anything too spectacular once out on the course.

I did about 5 runs down the course, generally able to make the eddies that I wanted to, but I didn't really play in any of the waves. I managed to stay upright, but I wasn't really pushing myself. Would be nice to go back sometime when it is warmer.

Compared to the Teesside course, I think Holme Pierrepont is a bit more interesting, and the features more challenging, but that may only be because of the high water level. I must admit though the conveyor belt at Teesside makes it much more civilised compared to carrying your boat back up at Nottingham.