In this bonus episode Etienne Stott is joined by Nick Hayes, illustrator, writer and land rights campaigner. Nick was a guest last summer talking about access and his publication The Book of Trespass.

It's a short interview to accompany Episode 25 where all things trespass, rights of way and the Countryside and Rights of Way Act.

This takes the Paddler's Podcast back to its roots - which is access. And there are three great guests with Etienne Stott this week.

Kate Ashbrook is a pioneer and legend. She's currently General Secretary of the Outdoor Spaces Society. Kate has been an activist since the 1970's and brings a wealth of experience to the discussion.

Dr Cath Flitcroft is responsible for managing the British Mountaineering Council's relationship with the Government and other countryside organisations.

And Alison Hallas is the Policy and Advocacy Officer with The Ramblers, the charity that works to protect and expand the places people love to walk.

This week Etienne Stott talks about the great part white water paddling and river running has played in the 85 years of British Canoeing. From the early descents of European rivers in the 1940's and 1950's to the explosion of growth in more recent times.

Three great pioneers join the conversation - Suzy Hornby, Roger Huyton and Michael Coyne. There are some great tales of expeditions from the 1970's and 80's. It's a real to joy to listen.

This week Olympic gold medal winner Etienne Stott leads a chat about paddling and mental health and wellbeing.

We've 3 guests who are helping to make a real difference in improving mental health. Learn how they're doing it and how you could get involved. There'll be some great tips for individuals and clubs.

The guests are:

Lynne-Marie Dale - A British Canoeing qualified Paddlesport Coach based in Yorkshire. Lynne's also the Paddlesport Officer for Blackdog Outdoors, which is a national volunteer organisation doing great work promoting and using outdoor exercise for better wellbeing.

Darren Johnson - A SUP instructor who's helped to grow the Fylde Coast SUP Group. It's a group that predominantly operates out of the coastal fishing town of Fleetwood, striving to improve mental health.

Sarah Coombes - A SUP instructor and founder of the Blue Therapy Active group located in a little corner of Essex, which shares its love of the sea and encourage people to have fun outdoors.

The latest edition looks at two women who are helping to break down barriers in the sport.

Adya Misra is one of the British Canoeing Club Champions. A keen paddler,  Adya is hugely passionate about  helping women develop as paddlers, encouraging them to try new craft; coaching them to improve their technique and mostly to create environments in which they feel confident and comfortable to paddle in.

Eilidh Gibson, a slalom C1 paddler, set up the Slalom Inspires programme when she was sidelined from racing. It was was born out of Eilidh's passion for canoe slalom and her calling to get more girls into the sport which still has a higher proportion of male to female participants. The next development in this is the creation of Project FLOW, an initiative to help empower and upskill women and girls to become canoeing coaches.

The podcast is presented by Etienne Stott, Olympic Gold Medal winner from London 2012.

For information go to Britishcanoeing.org.uk

Eilidh's website is elidhgibson.com

Adya's blog is adyamisra86.wixsite.com

A lively discussion on paddling from some of Britain's elite sportsmen and women.

Liam Heath MBE won gold(K1 200m)and silver(K2 200m) at the Rio Olympics in 2016. And a bronze at London 2012.

Adam Burgess has had to wait patiently for his Olympic debut after being selected last year in the Canoe Slalom.

Charlotte Henshaw has medals from the Paralympics in London and Rio, but in swimming. She moved to paracanoe in 2016 and is a world champion. And hopes to be part of the team in Tokyo

Leading the chat is the gold medal winner from the London Games Etienne Stott

For more information on British Canoeing go to

www.britishcanoeing.org.uk

Etienne Stott, Olympic Gold Medal winner from London 2012 investigates pollution and water quality in our waterways. Etienne gets stuck in to finding out more about his issue with his guests. This is an audio version of a live conversation over facebook and YouTube.

So why should paddlers care about this? As you'll hear, there are plenty of places with sewage issues. When we enter into these waterways we're at risk of gastroenteritis; ear, nose and throat infections; skin issues and even hepatitis and e-coli. So even just touching your boat could put you at risk.

Amy Slack is from Surfers Against Sewage and Ash Smith if from Windrush Against Sewage Pollution(WASP). She claims our rivers are being treated like open sewers and that issues that were once affecting the coastline has now been switched inland.

Surfers Against Sewage started 30 years again when a bunch of surfers were fed up of becoming ill by being in the sea. Now it's a national campaigning organisation concerned about water quality, plastic pollution and the climate emergency.

WASP looks out for the Windrush in Oxfordshire and was set up to try to improve the quality of the water as they felt other agencies weren't doing enough. Ash tells Etienne about the sort of chemicals that are ending up in the waterways with long lasting effects.

You can find out more about British Canoeing's Clear Access, Clear Waters Campaign here

https://clearaccessclearwaters.org.uk/

And British Canoeing and membership details here

https://www.britishcanoeing.org.uk/

Matt Allwright is a TV reporter and journalist on programmes like Watchdog, Fake Britain, Rogue Traders and The One Show. He's also a keen paddler - especially at night.

Lucy Siegle is a TV reporter for the One Show and writer for the Guardian on environmental matters and she loves her time in the kayak.

Etienne discovers that Lucy does regular river clean-ups, takes her kayak to go shopping and can often be seen on the Thames with her dog.

Matt talks about his love of the sea kayak.

We talk plastics, pollution, repairs, shares and a general love of paddlesport.