pete Astler
How did it all start for you? Rumor has it, your parents were runners and climbers who made you wait until you could swim before joining the local paddle club. True?
Yeah, that’s right. I grew up in the Lake District, a great place for outdoor activities. My dad took me fell running and orienteering, but I was not very good at it and found it really tough. I loved the lakes where we grew up and always had a yearning to get out on the water. To join the local canoe club, you had to swim 50 meters, two full lengths of our local pool. I was nine when I finally made it down and back.
Why was kayaking so attractive at that early age? What was the club scene like in England at the time?
In Ambleside, where I lived, there was an outdoor education college. The head there was a guy called Colin Mortlock, an inspirational sea kayaker and adventurer. He started a local adventure association called the 4As (the Ambleside Area Adventure Association) to give local people, especially kids, a chance to take up outdoor activities such as fell running, climbing, and kayaking. He got his students to run the club as part of their course. This was 1979, the club scene was thriving. Many slalom clubs were based around the main university cities of Leeds, Manchester, Chester, and Stafford. Stafford & Stone was the best club, with Richard Fox, Melvyn Jones, Ken Langford, and more. Today that club is still booming, producing champions like Joe Clarke. Sadly, the 4As finished many years ago...
With such a strong local scene, what inspired the move to Nottingham?
Until I was 17 and could drive, my parents would take me up and down the country to races and training every weekend. I trained on a little river in Ambleside called the Rothay. I had six gates, and most days, the local anglers would cut them down!! So, it was pretty tough. In 1986, the whitewater course opened in Nottingham. As kids, we'd raised money to help build it, and as a GB Junior team member, I was invited to paddle at the official opening. The course was amazing: world-class whitewater, 365 days a year. It was a dream compared to my six gates on the Rothay. I’d head down to
