CaRT organise Winter paddle
AS PART of Canal & River Trust's first ever coast to coast canoe project, it is organising two new spectacular ‘Santa Splash' family canoe paddles in Bootle and Burscough in December.
Everyone with access to a canoe is invited to join in the festive fun on the Leeds & Liverpool Canal. Also, there will be an opportunity for people without canoes to take part by booking a paddling slot on a larger boat, provided by the Coast to Coast project team.
Five years project
The events are being hosted by the Canal & River Trust, and form part of a five years project to create The Desmond Family Coast to Coast Canoe Trail across the Pennines, that is funded by a £1.3 million grant from the Desmond Foundation. The 150 miles trail starts in Liverpool, following the Leeds & Liverpool, links into the Aire & Calder Navigation in Yorkshire and finally reaches the East Coast at Goole.
The Bootle event, on Saturday 12th December, will take place between the Eldonian Village, Liverpool, and the SAFE Regeneration Centre, at the former Little Merton pub, near Waverley Street, Bootle. Participants should arrive at 10am in the Eldonian Village (parking available on Burlington Street) ready for an 11am start.
Food and drink
The canoe trail back to Bootle is about two miles and is likely to take around an hour. From 12 noon to 2pm, everyone is invited to welcome back the paddlers with festive food and drink, a hog roast, mulled wine, hot chocolate and arts and crafts on the canal bank by the SAFE centre.
The same format will be repeated in Burscough on Sunday 13th December, based out of the Grove Youth Club, Burscough Wharf. This trail will start in Burscough at 11am and take canoeists up to the junction with the Rufford canal arm before returning to Burscough again - a round trip of about 1.2 miles. This will be followed by two hours of feasting and fun which will be open to everyone.
Winter paddle
Greg Brookes, Coast to Coast Project Manager with the Canal & River Trust, enthused:
"Our Santa Splash events offer all canoe enthusiasts a chance to get festive and enjoy a winter paddle. Everyone is invited to cheer them back and enjoy lunchtime festive food, arts and crafts. We hope every canoeist will enter into the Christmas spirit by dressing up and decorating their canoe. A flotilla of floating Santas should be tremendous sight—a first for the Leeds & Liverpool Canal!
"This is not a race. People can just come along and have fun or if they want to raise money for charity at the same time that is also fine by us. Children are welcome but will need to be accompanied by an adult."