The Toothill family in 1907 in their 14hp Humber in Heath Road, Hale. Kathleen is on the right.
KATHLEEN TOOTILL, BORN 1904
TEACHER AND CROSS-CHANNEL CANOEIST
After graduating from Manchester University in 1925 Kathleen Tootill spent 19 years as a teacher in a very unconventional school. She went on to be an Olympic-standard whitewater canoeist in the days before specialised equipment or training was available. She worked tirelessly as an ambassador for canoe camping, wanting to introduce young people and city-dwellers to the mental and physical benefits of simple living and engaging with the natural world. She enjoyed taking on all the challenges of pioneering new routes for canoeists, particularly in Finland, Iceland, Bulgaria and Yugoslavia. Aged 65 she was the first woman to canoe across the Channel.
Click below to view her life story: