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Cardington Artificial Slalom Course
Cardington Artificial Slalom Course (CASC) was the first artificial whitewater canoe slalom course in the UK when it was completed in July 1982, having been first discussed in 1972. Based on the River Great Ouse adjacent to Cardington sluice, within the grounds of Priory Country Park and approximately 2.5 km downstream from Bedford, the course has a dual role as both a flood control structure and a whitewater course for canoe slalom training and events. The course cost £273,000 and was funded by a consortium of the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (now the Environment Agency), Anglian Water, the Sports Council (now UK Sport) and local councils and was seen as an excellent example of the relatively low cost adaptation of a necessary structure to provide a facility of national significance. The structure consists of an automatically controlled dropleaf control sluice, 9 metres wide, at the head of a concrete-lined channel which connects the upper reach of the ri ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frank Branston
Frank Branston (9 May 1939 – 14 August 2009) was a journalist, novelist and newspaper proprietor, and the first directly elected mayor of the Borough of Bedford in Bedfordshire, England. Early life and career Frank Branston was born in Retford, Nottinghamshire, brought up in Chelsea, west London, and educated at Sloane Grammar School, Chelsea, leaving in 1955 aged 16. He married Marlies, originally from Germany, in 1968, and was the father of two children: Naomi (a lawyer) and Antonia (marketing). Prior to entering politics he was a journalist, although he was for a while a member of the Labour Party in the 1970s. In 1974 he was the first journalist on a weekly newspaper to be named as the National Press Awards' Provincial Journalist of the Year. After launching his own newspaper, Bedfordshire on Sunday, in 1977, he also received a number of other awards. Branston was the owner of five local newspapers: ''Bedfordshire on Sunday'', ''Luton on Sunday'', ''Hertfordshire on Sun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sports Venues In Bedfordshire
Sport pertains to any form of competitive physical activity or game that aims to use, maintain, or improve physical ability and skills while providing enjoyment to participants and, in some cases, entertainment to spectators. Sports can, through casual or organized participation, improve participants' physical health. Hundreds of sports exist, from those between single contestants, through to those with hundreds of simultaneous participants, either in teams or competing as individuals. In certain sports such as racing, many contestants may compete, simultaneously or consecutively, with one winner; in others, the contest (a ''match'') is between two sides, each attempting to exceed the other. Some sports allow a "tie" or "draw", in which there is no single winner; others provide tie-breaking methods to ensure one winner and one loser. A number of contests may be arranged in a tournament producing a champion. Many sports leagues make an annual champion by arranging games in a r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artificial Whitewater Courses In The United Kingdom
Artificiality (the state of being artificial or manmade) is the state of being the product of intentional human manufacture, rather than occurring naturally through processes not involving or requiring human activity. Connotations Artificiality often carries with it the implication of being false, counterfeit, or deceptive. The philosopher Aristotle wrote in his ''Rhetoric'': However, artificiality does not necessarily have a negative connotation, as it may also reflect the ability of humans to replicate forms or functions arising in nature, as with an artificial heart or artificial intelligence. Political scientist and artificial intelligence expert Herbert A. Simon observes that "some artificial things are imitations of things in nature, and the imitation may use either the same basic materials as those in the natural object or quite different materials.Herbert A. Simon, ''The Sciences of the Artificial'' (1996), p. 4. Simon distinguishes between the artificial and the synthe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tourist Attractions In Bedfordshire
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism more generally, in terms which go "beyond the common perception of tourism as being limited to holiday activity only", as people "travelling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure and not less than 24 hours, business and other purposes". Tourism can be domestic (within the traveller's own country) or international, and international tourism has both incoming and outgoing implications on a country's balance of payments. Tourism numbers declined as a result of a strong economic slowdown (the late-2000s recession) between the second half of 2008 and the end of 2009, and in consequence of the outbreak of the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus, but slowly recovered until the COVID-19 p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tees Barrage White Water Course
The Tees Barrage International White Water Course, originally the Teesside White Water Course, is an artificial whitewater course on the north bank of the River Tees, in northern England. It is part of the Tees Barrage and is located in the Stockton-on-Tees district, accessible by road only from Thornaby-on-Tees and best accessed by the A66. The course was built in 1995 at a cost of £2 million. The course is now open once more under the new name TBIWWC (Tees Barrage International White Water Centre). Facilities The course is owned by the Canal & River Trust but administered by Tees Active from the on-site watersports centre. The white water facility offers kayaking, whitewater slalom, playboating and white water rafting plus surfing on the 'surf wave'. The centre's facilities include a high ropes course, a placid practice pool; watersports centre, shop and cafe; car parking, camping, picnicking and caravanning areas; bandstand and landscaped amphitheatre, ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nene Whitewater Centre
The Nene Whitewater Centre was the UK's first pumped artificial whitewater course. It is located on the River Nene in Northampton. The 300m course was designed by slalom designers, Proper Channels Ltd and built in 1999 by Wrekin Construction. Water can be partially diverted around a weir via an automatically controlled sluice gate. Additionally, three individually controlled electric pumps allow the centre to pump water from below the weir into the course. The course can be configured to cater for novices, or intermediates. See also Other UK artificial whitewater centres * Lee Valley White Water Centre * Cardington Artificial Slalom Course * Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre Holme Pierrepont Country Park, home of The National Water Sports Centre is located in the hamlet of Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham, England and on the River Trent. It is used for many different types of sports and has recently received sign ... * Teesside White Water Course * Cardiff ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Holme Pierrepont National Watersports Centre
Holme Pierrepont Country Park, home of The National Water Sports Centre is located in the hamlet of Holme Pierrepont near Nottingham, England and on the River Trent. It is used for many different types of sports and has recently received significant investment which has enabled a major refurbishment of existing facilities as well as introduction of new facilities. Run by Serco on behalf of Nottinghamshire County Council, it was previously one of five National Sports Centres, and is a unique sporting venue set in the centre of the country. History The centre was constructed during 1970 and 1971 on a former gravel works and required the excavation of one and a half million Cubic yard, cubic yards of material. The centre opened in 1971 and won second prize in the 1972 Times/RICS Conservation Awards and was consequently chosen to host the first British Rowing Championships, National Rowing Championships in 1972. Until 2009 the centre was operated on behalf of Sport England howev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lee Valley White Water Centre
Lee Valley White Water Centre (previously known as Broxbourne White Water Canoe Centre) is a white-water slalom centre, that was constructed to host the whitewater slalom, canoe slalom events of the 2012 Summer Olympics, London 2012 Olympic Games. On 9 December 2010, Anne, Princess Royal officially opened the venue which is owned by Lee Valley Regional Park Authority and was orginally managed by them as well, but since April 1st 2022, is now managed by Greenwich Leisure Limited (GLL) under its "Better" brand. The £31 million ($50 million US) project to construct the centre finished on schedule and was the first newly constructed Olympic venue to be completed. Canoeing at the 2012 Summer Olympics#Slalom, The Olympic canoe slalom competition was held from 29 July through 2 August. The venue also hosted the 2015 ICF Canoe Slalom World Championships. Venue The venue is located between the towns of Waltham Cross in Hertfordshire and Waltham Abbey (town), Waltham Abbey in Essex. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viking Kayak Club
Viking Kayak Club is an open, community-based, multi-disciplinary club and is now one of the foremost canoe and kayak clubs in the UK. The club offers a broad range of paddling opportunities from easy recreational paddling to competition in canoe slalom, canoe racing and canoe polo and is active in encouraging beginners into the sport. Viking was founded in 1961 and celebrated its 50th Anniversary in 2011. Its clubhouse is at Batts Ford on the north bank of the River Great Ouse in the centre of Bedford, England. In 2009, Viking was named the British Canoe Union (BCU)’s Club of the Year and was Runner Up in the overall UK Sports Club of the Year run by The Central Council of Physical Recreation (CCPR). Viking is also accredited under Sport England’s Clubmark scheme and by the BCU as Top Club Gold, the highest level of canoe club accreditation. Membership The club is open to all from the age of eight upwards and welcomes families and adults of all ages to take part ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
UK Sport
UK Sport is the government agency responsible for investing in Olympic and Paralympic sport in the United Kingdom. It is an executive non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport. It was created following a "rock bottom" showing at the 1996 Summer Olympics where Team GB won just one solitary gold medal. Team GB and Paralympics GB went on to place third in the medal table at London 2012 and second in the table at Rio 2016. Funding UK Sport currently invests around £345m in summer Olympic and Paralympic sports and £24m in winter Olympic and Paralympic sports. These investments are spread over a four-year cycle ahead of the Tokyo and Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games respectively. The investments are made through Athlete Performance Awards which are paid directly to the athlete and contribute to their living and sporting costs and through central funding to sport National Governing Bodies to invest in coaches, facilities and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Artificial Whitewater
An artificial whitewater course (AWWC) is a site for whitewater canoeing, whitewater kayaking, whitewater racing, whitewater rafting, playboating and slalom canoeing with artificially generated rapids. Course types Main types of course: Flow diversion These work by diverting a natural river through boulder placement or damming, or by creating new channels next to an existing river, possibly by a weir or power station outflow. Tidal action Created in estuaries with large tidal reaches, on a barrage across the river. The barrage is opened during a rising high tide to allow the sea water in, then shut as the tide turns. The water stored above the barrage is then forced through an artificial channel to provide water features. Pumped The nature of artificial whitewater courses necessitates the need for a drop in the river, and enough water flow to provide hydraulics. When this isn't possible (often in flat low-lying areas), electric pumps are used to lift and re-circulate the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
