The Wye Trip 2004 - Kingfishers, Mink and a Sheep

The paddlers arrived at the Hollybush Inn upstream from Hay on Wye from all directions, having tried various cross-country routes once Thelwall Viaduct was crossed.  There was no obvious winner.  On inspection the river looked broad and flat, and the next 85 miles were to confirm that.  We saw more kingfishers than white water, and were more threatened by swans than by the raging river.  But the weather held, and the company was excellent so a good time was had by all.

Trevor alarmed us on the first night by announcing that his seat was warm and throbbing, but it turned out that his electric toothbrush had set itself off inside the barrel he was sitting on.  Those of us who were planning to live out of a kayak for the next several days and brush our teeth with twigs showed little sympathy.   

Day 1 (19 miles)  For the first day the river mostly ran between fairly high banks lined with 6-foot high Himalayan Balsam.  The river valley is fairly broad, with the hills set well back, so views were limited, and we passed Hay-on-Wye without really noticing it.  Just as the only shower of the day arrived at lunchtime, so did the Boat Inn. Brobury Scar, a sandstone cliff gave us a respite from the Balsam, and we passed Moccas Court, a Queen Anne mansion,  before arriving at the campsite.  It was in a riverside apple orchard, so John  was given his first opportunity to rig up a pulley system to get our boats up and down the banks.

Day 2 (20 miles)  Our guide book was “Canoeists' Guide to the River Wye”.  Mornington Falls was highlighted as being worthy of inspection, but proved to be merely a rush through a narrow channel.  John and Ben almost managed to paddle up it!  Today's highlights in the guide book included “Cannon Bridge - no bridge” and “New Weir - No weir”.  It appeared to have been written by a non-paddler, as it often mentioned features which were barely visible from the river, and ignored things of more significance to the lowly paddler.  Hereford made a pleasant lunchtime stop, with the park next to the river.  We were spotted from the bridge by Jo and Sarah, who were fitting in a spot of retail therapy en route to join us at our next campsite at Mordiford.  This was a real campsite, with lawns and shrubs and a shop!

Day 3 (20 miles)  Beyond Hereford the banks were less intimidating, and the hills appeared more often.  The river maintained its meandering progress, with large salmon pools filled with vast areas of Water Crowfoot.  At one stage we came across someone standing up to his armpits in the river and wielding a scythe underwater to cut it back, but in areas where it was still accessible there were flocks of feasting swans, often up to 50 at a time filling the river from bank to bank.  There were also many nesting swans with 1-7 cygnets in attendance, and the occasional flash of a kingfisher.  And on several occasions we saw mink by the river bank.  But Day 3 was the day to practice rescue techniques.  The practice on Derwentwater had not covered mud-fast sheep - an issue for the Committee to pick up -  but a line was deployed and the beast was towed/manhandled to safety.  The rescuers were very satisfied with their performance; the views of the herbivore are not known.  We passed the remains of 3 railway bridges, remnants of the Hereford to Gloucester line.  And so to a farmer's field just outside Ross-on-Wye, complete with  Portaloo and Portashower.

Day 4 (14 miles)  As the hills closed in the scenery improved, and we now met other paddlers undertaking day trips from Ross to Symonds Yat.  Whilst enjoying a liquid lunch at Lower Lydbrook, Tom & Tom were observed paddling as they approached the pub, albeit very briefly.  This seemed to cast some doubt upon their claim to have drifted the entire distance!  Around Symonds Yat there are pleasure boat trips up and down the river, and we felt to be approaching civilization after several days with the river almost to ourselves (apart from the swans of course).

At Symonds Yat we had a rest day, and retrieved the cars.  The opportunity was taken to explore Monmouth as well as the walks beside the river and up to Yat Rock.  And it was Richard's birthday, so Jo had organised a barbecue complete with a large tarpaulin to cover the 15 of us in the event of rain.  It did rain, but only for a couple of hours.  

Day 5 (8 or 15 miles)  Symonds Yat rapids are a huge attraction for youth groups.  A small weir is followed by 100 metres of moving water with a series of artificial breakwaters on both sides giving lots of opportunities for practicing breakout/ins and ferry glides.  It was pleasant after so much still water, but is no more challenging than the Middle Derwent, so we drifted down nonchalantly.  We had intended to paddle 15 miles, but because of parking restrictions most of us cut it short to 8 miles - except Phil and Liz who abandoned Emily at the Boat Inn at Redbrook and paddled on, hoping to find a lift back somehow.  The rest of us rafted up, delegated paddling to Richard, and watched the world slowly drift by until we caught Emily up.  After the party had samplied some of the local cider from the cellar, Letty was despatched on a rescue mission to recover the Newtons.  Steve and Chris stayed over to explore the Brecon Beacons, but the rest of us then headed home after a most relaxing week.  

Thanks are due to our organisers, Trevor and Tina, for arranging such an enjoyable trip.

       Peter Dixon August 2004