In July of 2018, two students from Bladon House School took on the challenge demanding two day canoeing expedition on the River Trent. The Expedition consisted of a 12 mile river trip, by canoe, from Burton on Trent to Swarkestone with an overnight camp next to the river at Poplars Farm in Twyford.

Day one saw the students tackle the 8.5 miles from Burton on Trent to Twyford where they learned to paddle a Canadian canoe as part of a team, practicing forward, reverse and turning paddle strokes. This stage of the trip showed the students a very different view of the school as they looked up at it from the river.Various stops on the shale river banks along the way provided rest and the opportunity to collect firewood for the evening’s open fire.

At the end of a tough five hours of paddling, students reached the riverside camp site where they erected tents and canoe shelters before setting about preparing their own meals and hot drinks using Trangia stoves. The rest of the evening was spent relaxing by an open fire and resting ready for the next day of paddling.

Day 2 saw the students paddling a further 3.5 miles from Twyford to Swarkestone with a short detour up a river tributary to visit the caves of Anchor Church. The expedition finished near Swarkestone bridge after a close encounter with “Fluffy”, the resident aggressive swan than resides near Barrow on Trent, that scared members of staff more than students!
After a well-deserved ice cream it was time to return to school, all tired but having a sense of achievement in completing a very demanding expedition