Current News and Events

Coulam 16 Wheelyboat launched on Rutland Water

The first production model of the Coulam 16 Wheelyboat has been purchased by Anglian Water and was officially launched at Rutland Water on 4th April. A crowd of well wishers had gathered and heard Jake Williams and Jon Marshall of Anglian Water and Andy Beadsley of The Wheelyboat Trust thank all those concerned for their help bringing the project to fruition. Particular praise went to the CLA Charitable Trust for funding the boat's development from concept to prototype and to Jim Coulam for his enthusiasm and dedication to the project. Andy Beadsley said that it had always been a goal of his since becoming Director of the Trust to develop a portfolio of different craft that met particular needs and requirements rather than being limited to a one-size-fits-all solution. This new boat was a significant step towards that aim and he hoped it would be the first of many on waters across the UK.

Ray Prince (Trustee, Wheelyboat Trust), Jim Coulam (boat's builder), Danny Peet (Trustee, Wheelyboat Trust), John Seaton (Rutland Water Ranger), Jake Williams (Anglian Water), Jon Marshall (Anglian Water), Andy Beadsley (Director, Wheelyboat Trust).

Danny Peet and Jon Marshall discuss the merits of the boat's boarding arrangement.

The boat will provide access to the reservoir's excellent trout fishing. It means that disabled anglers finally have hassle-free use of a boat that looks and performs like all the other boats in the angling fleet. They can truly fish on equal terms with their able-bodied counterparts. While the Mk II Wheelyboat has been available on Rutland since 2005, some anglers feel conspicuous and at a disadvantage using it. This new boat not only means and end to the undignified manhandling of disabled anglers in and out of standard boats, but also brings relief to the fishery staff and their bad backs!

For more info on the Coulam 16 Wheelyboat click here.

Wheelyboat Rainbow Reel-In – winners announced

Sponsored by Corus Tubes, the Wheelyboat Rainbow Reel-In Competition held at Eyebrook Trout Fishery came to a close on 1st October with four anglers netting generous prizes to a total value of £700.

Ken Waters of Wing, Rutland won a £400 Eyebrook Tackle Shop voucher for the heaviest bag of 8 fish, weighing in at 17lbs 11ozs.

Fred Kettle of Wigston, Leicestershire, won a £200 voucher for the heaviest single rainbow which tipped the scales at 5lb 4ozs.

Don Pack, of Wellingborough, and John Gale, of Wing, both won £50 vouchers after their names were drawn out of the hat.

Ken was also the proud winner of no less than 5 of the 12 monthly prizes donated by Stuart Illsley of the Eyebrook Tackle Shop.

The competition was run very successfully on behalf of the Wheelyboat Trust by the staff at Eyebrook Trout Fishery in Leicestershire. Without their help and support, along with that of Stuart and the Corus Group, the first ever competition for disabled anglers using the specially designed Wheelyboats would never have happened. The Trust's grateful thanks goes to them and to all the anglers who supported the Rainbow Reel-In competition. The Trust would also like to thank Sue Hiatt, its Regional Volunteer in the Midlands, for all the hard work she undertook having conceived the idea and then brought it to fruition.

More details of the Rainbow Reel-In and other awards can be found in our Awards and Competitions section.

Ken Waters receiving his prize from Ray Prince

Ken is delighted to receive his prize from Ray Prince, a Trustee of the Wheelyboat Trust.

Tweed Foundation Charity Auction and Dinner

Thousands raised for for Tweed Wheelyboats

On 9th October in Kelso, Chris Tarrant, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire's question master (and a passionate angler), and comedian, Mike Osman, hosted a gala charity auction and dinner in aid of Tweed Wheelyboats.

The pair richly entertained the 250 diners and guests throughout the evening, skilfully relieving them of £20 notes at regular intervals. A silent auction was held during dinner and the main live auction followed. There were some extremely desirable lots on offer including a week in October 2008 fishing six of Tweed's finest beats (a once in a lifetime opportunity). Mike Osman proved an expert auctioneer and squeezed every ounce of value from each lot. The six days on six beats went for £15,000!

Nick Yonge (Director, Tweed Foundation), Mike Osman, Chris Tarrant.

The Tweed Wheelyboat is a revolutionary new fishing boat developed by the Trust in conjunction with J M Coulam Boatbuilders specifically for disabled anglers on large rivers like Tweed. The first one, named Tweedability 1, was launched by Chris Tarrant in October 2006. The aim of the auction and dinner was to raise funds to repay the boat's development costs (funded by the Tweed Foundation), purchase two more boats for Tweed and endow The Wheelyboat Trust with funds to enable it to supply boats to other rivers. The evening was a huge success and the money raised exceeded all expectations.

Second Tweed Wheelyboat launched

As a result of publicity for the auction and dinner, an extremely generous benefactor donated funds to enable the second Tweed Wheelyboat (Tweedability 2) to be built in advance of the dinner and it was formally launched on the famous Junction Pool at Kelso on 1st October. Ray Crompton, a wheelchair user, whose friend donated the funds with the needs of Ray in mind, was the first angler to use the boat and christened it by catching a salmon the following day. He said ‘it's a fantastic boat and without it I simply could not get on the river’.

Ray Crompton playing a salmon – the first one to be caught from the new boat.

The boat's unique design means that the boatman and angler, between the two of them, can board and disembark easily and safely. This overcomes the major hurdle of access to the river for wheelchair users – the banks are steep and inaccessible, while the standard Tweed fishing boats are simply not built for wheelchair use. The Tweed Wheelyboat's success is in no small part due to the boatman who operate the boat and who find it so straightforward to row and control.

The Wheelyboat Trust is extremely grateful to the Tweed Foundation, which organised the entire event, for making it such an enormous success. Tweedability 3 will be launched in 2008.

To book the Tweed Wheelyboat, contact the Tweed Foundation on 01896 848271 or visit their website www.tweedfoundation.org.uk.

Latest Waterwheels newsletter (summer 2007) published

To download a copy, click here (pdf format approx 200kb) or if you would like to receive a copy by post or e-mail, please contact us with your name and address.

Please take time to look at our earlier news and events and the current and past editions of the Waterwheels newsletter.