NUCC Reunion 2010

27 – 30 August Bank Holiday Weekend

My reflection

I went to Nottingham University between 1975 to 1978 to study Civil Engineering.  I choose Nottingham because of the quality of the fishing on the River Trent.  However, for some reason during fresher’s week I joined the canoe club and got actively, competitively and quite seriously involved in WWR (white water racing) during the autumn & winter seasons and participated in social/training slalom competitions during the spring/summer. 

I remember paddling the Dee at Llangollen, the Lune, the Tryweryn, organising the first ever NUCC  BUSF slalom in 1978 at Sedburgh (great black pudding), the Wharfe, going over the falls at Richmond on Swale after finishing the Forces Open event, moving the Tees start as the river was frozen, pot hunting at Peterborough (my pot from 1978 sits on my mantelpiece), Llandysul slalom and the judges run with a pint halfway down the course just below Pont Tyweli bridge (timing clock running whilst you drank it and any spillage was a gate penalty), the 10 mile lunchtime training paddle from Grove Farm down the Trent, back up the canal and returning via Beeston Weir amongst some.

They were good times going to events and competitions most weekends for 2½ years until I thought I had better revise/study for my finals which I’m pleased to say I graduated and a reasonably successful career as a Chartered Civil Engineer in local government followed.

Anyway, Dave Williams (1977-80) decided that after 30 years a reunion of ex NUCC members should be held.  The ideal place to hold it was Skern Lodge, Appledore, a residential outdoor activities centre set up and run by John Watson, ex NUCC.

The weekend was attended at various times by around 40 ex NUCC members, partners and offspring from academic years 1975 to 1982/3?.   It was surprisingly easy to meet up with long lost friends and just pick up from where we left off in my case 32 years ago.  It was also good to make new friends from those that were at Uni after me.  Most knew my name so I must have done something memorable, be it good or bad.

The Saturday evening reunion buffet with excellent food, quizzes about those NUCC days, old photo albums, slide shows, beer and wine was the keynote point of the weekend.  The kids looked on in horror and despair at the clothes their parents used to wear, but also in amazement at the paddling exploits that we got up to in the days before plastic and carbon/kevlar boats.

Most of us turned up with cameras, but I won the ‘mine is the biggest’ competition with a Sigma 150-500mm zoom lense on a Nikon D80 body.  I took photos of the Saturday morning activities at the centre and the Bank Holiday Monday surfing on Westward Ho Beach.  These are posted for general viewing in a few albums below.  With the long lense it was difficult to auto-focus in the surf as I either picked up the wave behind, the wave in front or the kayak.  So some of you surfing maybe missing.

I used to give my photos away, but when I set up this website I made it a policy that I don’t anymore.  To solve the problem should those that were there want any of the images in the albums, then John supports a charity, Hope and Homes for Children

Let me know by email if you want any (DSC_???? & album name) and in return for a donation (you decide how much) on your part to Hope and Homes for Children, I’ll happily provide them.  This way, I’m not giving them away and disadvantaged children benefit a little from our reunion.  Gift aid your donation if you can as they get an extra 28p from every £. Copyright remains with Geoff Allen and they are only licenced for personal and family use.

Up to four, I’ll send by email.  Five or more I’ll burn to a cd and put in the post which will be a £5 donation for postage and packaging, plus your own choice donation on top.  All images should print out up to A1 size at least.

I’ve also included an album of sunrise from the northern point of Northam Burrows Country Park taken on the Bank Holiday Monday morning between 0600 and 0700.  It’s beautiful how the light can change so dramatically in just an hour.

I’m fairly confident you all missed sunrise.  These sunrise images are not available as I’m building up my portfolio of calendar and postcard images as part of the commercial side of my business.

I think the next reunion should be sooner than 30 more years away.  I now see that Dave and John have arranged it for the same weekend in 2012.  Hope to see you all there.

Best wishes

Geoff
September 2010

All images are Copyright © www.geoffallen.org.uk and may not be reproduced in any format without the express permission of Geoff Allen.  For copyright protection, all screen versions of the images have visible watermarking.

All images are from an original source file of 3872x2592 pixels in jpeg format. They are posted at a maximum size of 800 x 800 i.e.80-100KB instead of the original 4-5MB.

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