Forth Canoe Club Newsletter
By 1973, Forth Canoe Club was 50 years old, and had produced “The Spraysheet” news and also CANews, but it was then decided to make a club magazine.
The inspiration came from the “Edinburgh Schools Newsletter”, published by Edinburgh Outdoor Pursuits Centre and Boroughmuir High School, who ran weekly Wednesday afternoon canoeing trips for school pupils.
So, a Club newsletter started in April 1973 and published 5 editions on Foolscap (8”x13”) paper finishing with the April 1974.
| 1973 | April | July | October | |
| 1974 | January | April |
Kayak Magazine
On the suggestion of Andy Morton, the Club Newsletter expanded into ‘Kayak Magazine’ which was sold to several hundred canoeists in Scotland.
It was produced on the new European A4 paper (297mm x 210 mm. The “A” Series is scaled such that L/S = √2 (Where L=the long, and S =the short dimension)
The production team was Jack, Betty, Gordon and David Cuthill, supported by many other members of Forth Canoe Club and other Scottish clubs. The first edition was published in July 1974 and the magazine ran until 1983.
These were the days before affordable photocopiers, and of course there were no mobile phones, computers or internet. If you couldn’t get to a competition you had entered, you had to write to the organisers by posting a letter.
The pages were typed by Betty Cuthill on to Roneo waxed silk stencils and reproduced on the dining room table using an electric Gestetner duplicator on to paper. Advertising was brought in from August 1975.
A larger cover using A3 paper (420mm x 279mm) was used from January 1976. This allowed photos to be printed on the cover. This was funded by more advertising sponsorship.
Lendal Products Ltd, Prestwick
Pyranha Mouldings Ltd, Warrington
Trylon
Tulloch Boat Centre at Canonmills, Edinburgh
Strand Glass
Graham Tiso
Afton Canoes
David Cuthill did the early cover drawings by scratching the Roneo Stencils with a pin. After that he was responsible for photography and developing the black-and-white images.
The A3 cover printing was done by a local printer using Web-Offset Lithography
We have been given permission by David Cuthill and Forth Canoe Club to publish searchable copies of the original ‘Kayak Magazine’ which can be found in the table below.
As you may be aware, the Canoeing Results (also Canoeing Photos) website is currently funded by an individual member of the group. However, it has been suggested that the longevity of the site and the data held on the website would be ensured by setting up a donation facility, should anyone feel they wish to help with the costs incurred. The overheads involved in the maintenance of this site include: the purchase of a number of licences and the annual expenses required to run the two websites; the postage costs incurred regarding the collecting of data from individual contributors and the purchase of scanners and other software required for processing the data received.
NB. Please note, these are entirely non-profit making websites.