Welsh Water - River Teifi Whitsun 1954

Wild white water on the River Teifi tests these expert canoeists and one, as the grand finale to the film, capsizes at speed.

Members of Manchester Canoe Club (one of the oldest such clubs in Britain, established 1933), set up their folding craft and take to the Teifi at Whitsun. They negotiate stretches of white water, cows in the camping field and sheep being thrown into the river for dipping. One of the expert paddlers seen is likely to be Kathleen Toothill, winner of the Ladies National Slalom Championship (K1) in 1952.

Folding canoes, as seen here, with a wooden frame that could be dismantled and a canvas or rubber covering that could then be attached, were the order of the day before car ownership took off in the 1950s and offered easier transport facilities. The Manchester Canoe Club was a pioneer of the Slalom and over the decades has produced many a national champion.