What were the spooky goings on reported at Coniston Friday night!! was it the ghost of Donald Campbell or a coven of local witches creating their mischief?no it was Duddon canoe clubs Halloween paddle from Brown Howe.
Over 20 Ghosts,Ghouls, Vampires and Zombies turned up to paddle down to Crocodile creak across to Peel Island and finally back to Brown Howe where Captain Jack Sparrow and a zombie (Chris and Carrie) had burgers and hotdogs waiting for the weary monsters. a fantastic time was had by all and everyone is looking forward to the next night time paddle. 

The 26th of October saw the Yorkshire championship held on the river Washburn, Duddon sent 4 paddlers to test their skill. The race was a dam release which means that the river was at it maximum potential with very fast flowing water and some of the largest water falls and rapids the paddlers have ever experienced. This was a big step up in class for the Duddon paddlers and when they saw the speed of the water they felt a little apprehensive, however after a quick practice session they decided to try their luck in the sprint competition which started just below the largest feature in the river, all the Duddon paddlers got down the course without and mishaps and saw Alex D’Amico finished 4th in the under 23 competition and Brandon Wilson and Nadine Merrick both finished 1st in the under 16 boys and girls competition.

In the afternoon the classic competition was going to be run over a distance of 2 miles down all the largest features the river has to offer, the organisers did say that the largest waterfall on the river could be portaged, this reassured most of the Duddon paddlers so they decided to race. D’Amico went first and paddled well until he caught a rock just before the big drop and had to go down it backwards however this did not cost him too dearly and was soon facing the correct way again to finally finished 4th again.

Wilson set off next and picked a good line down the river, he was looking for a place to portage however the river was flowing so fast there was nowhere to get out to portage so he had to run the rapid dodging capsized paddlers and empty boats awaiting to be rescued. Brandon finished 4th overall but was the first under 16.  

The 4th Duddon paddler was Julian Milner who entered the classic race in an open canoe, Milner had to empty his boat after going down the largest feature on the river after it swamped however he went on to complete the race only 4 minutes behind the winner.

The paddlers found the racing very hard but extremely rewarding with the results not meaning as much as the personal achievement of successfully completing the race.