Forth Canoe Club Kayak Newsletter

In 1973, Forth Canoe Club was 50 years old, and had produced “The Spraysheet” news and also CANews.
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.
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
Searchable copies of the original ‘Kayak Magazine’ which can be found below.

• 1974

  • • July No.1

    • October No.2

• 1975

  • • January No.3

    • April No.4

    • August No.5

    • October No.6

• 1976

  • • January No.7

    • May No.8

    • August No.9

    • November No.10

• 1977

  • • February No.11

    • May No.12

    • August No.13

    • November No.14

• 1978

  • • February No.15

    • May No.16

    • August No.17

    • November No.18

• 1979

  • • February No.19

    • May No.20

    • August No.21

    • November No.22

• 1980

  • • February No.23

    • May No.24

    • August No.25

    • November No.26

• 1981

  • • February No.27

    • May No.28

    • August No.29

    • November No.30

• 1982

  • • February No.31

    • May No.32

    • August No.33

    • November No.34

• 1983

  • • February No.35

    • May No.36

    • August No.37

    • November No.38