Wye valley tour
Published: May 2003
The Whitsun Bank holiday weekend saw the Waveney Valley Canoe Club’s first ever touring weekend out of Norfolk. We chose the River Wye because of its easy access, beautiful scenery and as, apart from one or two of us having paddled small stretches, it was a river that was largely unknown to us. Nineteen club members went, 17 paddlers with two as support team. We base camped at Mordiford, some 7 miles below Hereford as a campsite with excellent facilities, easy river access and about halfway along the touring stretch of the river. The plan was to run the river from Hereford to Monmouth over 4 days with trips of varying lengths each day
With a good flow on the river it was decided to run the first day from Hereford down to Hoarwithy, a distance of just over 17 miles. The campsite was in fact halfway so that there was an opt out, which nobody actually took, for anyone who felt the total distance was too far. The initial fast flow soon subsided, as did the rain, and as we left Hereford we soon enjoyed paddling through some rolling green countryside and were quickly in the pretty valley at Mordiford passing the countryside. At 9 miles we stopped near Fownhope for lunch at a secluded spot with a wooded bank. Near Brockhampton we passed one of several places we were later to see where one bank rose in thickly wooded forest to considerable height and was with us for several miles. These places also seemed to be the haunt of buzzards which soared majestically on high to the annoyance of nesting crows which tried to mob them. We eventually arrived at our day’s end at Hoarwithy to find that the guide’s designated stop on the left bank was very difficult but that a rather easier stop on the left bank, gate key from local landowner, was very helpful, particularly as the river was flowing very quickly at this point.
Having borrowed a key to the gate from the Canoe Camping Club we had a somewhat easier launch at Hoarwithy. We were soon in a very large loop on the river where we paddled nearly 5 miles to travel a land distance of half a mile. Two large disused railway viaducts pointedly marking the shortest distance by land. With a warm day with intermittent showers there was much taking off and putting on of cags and with people experimenting with each others paddles progress was initially slow. We soon passed through Ross on Wye sussing out the canoe launch facility for possible future use. Finding few places to stop we eventually found a long concrete ledge used for fishing where we stopped to have lunch. As the afternoon brightened up and we moved on our bodies were starting to feel the combined effects of two days paddling. We were cheered by some spectacular views of Goodrich Castle which also indicated that we were not far off our final destination. The busy launch site at Kern Bridge was soon reached and once it was our turn we quickly got off the water.
The launch turned into a real nightmare the next day. The Village Hall next to the car park had decided to organise a car boot sale and use the public car park as its overflow park telling canoeists that they could not park there. After some fraught exchanges we managed to off-load all the boats and after a guided tour of Monmouth leave all the boats by Monmouth Rowing Club, our journey’s end. We knew this was going to be a busy stretch of the river and we passed several less experienced groups on the way. It is easy to see why this stretch of river is so popular, aside of the promise of the rapids, as right from the start the scenery is dramatically beautiful with many steep wooded banks. Worried about lack of unoccupied stopping places further downstream we stopped in the shadow of Symond’s Yat Rock for a picturesque lunch watching out for the Peregrine Falcons that many come to watch on the Rock. Shortly after setting off Sarah screamed that an insect had flown into her ear. After her ever helpful husband inspected and tried to drown the offending mite out all was declared OK, despite Sarah’s discomfort. As we came round to Symond’s Yat West Alan declared that he wanted to slide off the infamous Seal Launch Rock and Graham decided that he also had to do so. After much manoeuvring of boats Graham went first without deck on and did a very dramatic dive and pop out before being emptied out. Alan soon followed and their macho urges satisfied we proceeded down to the rapid. With high water levels there was no sign of the rocks on each side other than a barely noticeable step in the river level.. Everyone enjoyed shooting the rapid and successfully broke out into the pool below. The pretty wooded section through Biblins beyond felt very mellow after all the excitement and even the long straight stretch down to Monmouth did not dull spirits.
Everyone felt that we had done what we had planned in the three days and that with some people not paddling on the Tuesday that we would rather stop there and say we had done it all as a group. We had after all paddled for three days covering distances that most people don’t cover on a single day trip.
Everyone enjoyed it so much that we are booking now to go again next year. It is always nice to leave somewhere thinking there is still more to do so perhaps we can do some of the upstream stretches in the future as well as repeat some of the lovely river we have already paddled.
Many thanks to Tony Brooks for all the help and advice he gave us both before and whilst we were there. Also thanks to all those who came and contributed to make this such an enjoyable event!