Tamworth Canoe Club is based at Peaks leisure centre in Tamworth; it is a friendly, active club in a safe environment that welcomes people new to kayaks right through to experienced paddlers. There are plenty of coaches who are approachable and will gladly give you advice or leave you to try things out. It is possible to gain or improve your skills at the pool at your own pace.
Phone the club first, if you can, and if it is your first time, you will be guaranteed a place. This is advised if you are new to the sport, so that a coach can be made aware you will be arriving. You will also need to fill out a visitor form. This can be downloaded here. Turn up, hand over or fill out a visitor form, pay your money and get changed into swimming gear plus t-shirt or other top.
A coach will help you get a boat, paddle and helmet and will show you how to get safely into the kayak and how to paddle it. One other skill that you will learn is how to capsize. This sometimes makes people feel nervous, but it is done completely safely in the shallow end of the pool with a trained instructor standing right by the boat.
Then it is up to you how far you want to take the sport. Learning and developing your skills in the pool is the necessary step to move onto rivers. A great first river to try is the River Tame, it moves quite quickly, but steadily with no rapids, enabling you to practice and see how the boat handles in moving water. Trips to the Tame are arranged by the club, again, so that you can learn from the instructors that are fully trained in Kayak safety.
After that, the next step is white water, and for that, a great place to start is the River Dee at Llangollen. This is fast moving water, with some areas to practice and get used to the behaviour of the boat and also three rapids to go down. Instructor led courses are held here too.
It took me over a year to go through all of this, and another new starter went from pool to the River Dee in a few weeks, which shows that there is no pressure apart from how you develop your skills and want to progress further.
On a personal note, I have always felt completely safe and really enjoy my time in the pool but now that I have tried white water I understand what the kayak is for.
Come along, try it out in a safe environment and take it as far as you want to.