Wye Valley canoeing weekend
The sign at Whitney-on-Wye’s Boat Inn put visiting canoeists firmly in their place, directing them to the public bar.
‘No restrictions on crack dealers or criminals, I see,’ muttered my friend Nick, annoyed that canoeists alone should be banned from this riverside pub’s restaurant area. The exclusion felt personal since we would, after all, be canoeists ourselves come the morning. My family had teamed up with Nick’s lot for the weekend to canoe-camp along a 20-mile stretch of the River Wye, casting off at Glasbury, Powys. The thing was contending with a paddler apartheid, complete with no-go areas, had not been part of the programme.
‘Oh, it’s not that we don’t like them,’ the Boat’s barmaid assured us. ‘It’s just the state of them when they come off the river.’ A horrified mum choked on her sauvignon blanc as it dawned on her what canoeing might actually entail.
You don’t have to go to Canada to take to a Canadian canoe. But like all rookie canoeists on the increasingly popular Lower Wye, which offers some of the best beginner-friendly canoeing in Britain, we soon discovered that even a trip to the watery Welsh borders left us with lots to learn. Starting with the fact that ‘beginner-friendly’ merely meant riding the river should do us no real harm. It did not guarantee that we should stay the least bit dry. Or clean. Or dignified. As Nick and his two young sons discovered the following morning.
Jane at the Wye Valley Canoe Centre fitted us out with lifejackets, wet weather gear, laminated route maps and waterproof plastic barrels for stowing our kit. She taught us the rudiments of paddling – blade-end in the water; handle in the hand - and briefed us on safety. The Wye, benign but never quite boring, was running faster than usual (between 2 and 4 miles per hour) after the record summer rainfalls. Which meant excellent conditions – river canoeing thrives on rain – but that we were to be aware of a few minor hazards.
Our little fleet of canoes, three open boats each carrying three people, had barely passed out of sight of Glasbury’s bridge when the first such hazard loomed; a modest rapid but on a bend which was sufficiently sharp that Nick and his boys managed to capsize in eighteen inches of water. An alarmed heron rose from the nearby riverbank. Some of the dry members of our group sniggered. ‘The River Wye-ild,’ one of them quipped, perhaps unwisely, as the boys shook themselves down.
Once we had all mastered the basics - the stern paddle for steering, the forward ones for power - things took a definite turn for the better. The looping river pushed its field-fringed route between the Black Mountains and the Radnorshire hills. A kingfisher streaked across the water. A coal-black mink slunk into a pink-flowering stand of Himalayan Balsam. From the tops of the high banks, their sheer mud sides pitted with the nest holes of sand martins, cows watched us drift past. The going was easy, the powerful current pushing us past pools, overhanging willows and across rapid-strewn shallows.
Leaving the river, with its limited exit points, proved trickier. Hard paddling was required to gain the bank, something we had learned, luckily enough, by the time we reached Hay. Unlike some. Beaching our canoes beneath the town bridge, we watched others go broadside to the current before capsizing. This time, Nick and his boys laughed with us.
The river path reached the ‘town of books’ at the Three Tuns. This legendary drinking hole, which had recently re-opened following a fire, boasted a menu more suited to starving canoeists than sickly literary types – home-made pizzas for the kids, chunky sandwiches or bangers and mash for the grown-ups – and seemed free of the least paddler prejudice.
‘Oh, we had the Great Train Robbers drink in here once,’ a waitress told us. ‘I think we can cope with a few muddy souls up from the river.’
We followed lunch with a quick raid on the town’s legendary bookshops, stowing second-hand Morpurgos and Thubrons in the barrels before pushing off. The river headed north past hunched fishermen, the border running right down the middle of the channel. This fact delighted the children, who had not reckoned on a two-centre break. They zig-zagged the canoes out of England and into Wales, swapping national accents as they did so.
Late in the afternoon, not far beyond the Boat Inn, a shout came from the leading canoe. They had spied the tents. We were arriving back at Lockster’s Pool where we had made camp the previous evening. The children swam in the river while the adults built a fire and barbecued sausages. Sand martins rose to feed on the insect swarms. In the morning, the children surprised us by wanting nothing more than to be back on the river. Toads leaped from the canoes as we pushed off.
‘Ha-Wye-ii-Five-O,’ shouted Nick’s boys, disappearing downstream in a confident flurry of paddles.
We beached beneath the bridge at Bredwardine, and hauled the canoes up the steep bank into a field where the canoe operator’s van was waiting for us. We were soon back at Glasbury where lunch on the balcony of the splendid River Café felt well-earned and came, courtesy of our view over the busy Wye, complete with a whole succession of capsizing canoes for Nick and his boys to enjoy.
FACT BOX
The author was a guest of the Wye Valley Canoe Centre, Glasbury (01497 847213; www.wyevalleycanoes.co.uk). £20 per adult per day, based on two sharing a canoe, all equipment and return transport included. Kids travel free where sharing parents’ canoes. Open April-October.
Other canoe operators on the Wye include:
Paddles and Pedals, Hay-on-Wye (01497 820604; www.canoehire.co.uk); Black Mountain Activities and Hire Centre, Glasbury (01497 847897; www.blackmountain.co.uk); Wyedean Canoe Centre, Symonds Yat (01594 833238; www.wyedean.co.uk); Wye Pursuits, Ross-on-Wye (01600 891199; www.wye-pursuits.co.uk); Ross-on-Wye Canoe Hire (01600 890883; www.thecanoehire.co.uk).
Canoe operators can advise on campsites. Lockster’s Pool (fresh water; no toilet facilities) is bookable through Mrs Mason (01497 831373) at £2 per adult per night.
Eating:
River Café, Glasbury (01497 847007; www.wyevalleycanoes.co.uk). Also offers stylish B&B accommodation (£35 per person per night) above the café.
The Three Tuns, Hay-on-Wye (01497 821855; www.three-tuns.com)
The Boat Inn, Whitney-on-Wye (01497 831223)
‘No restrictions on crack dealers or criminals, I see,’ muttered my friend Nick, annoyed that canoeists alone should be banned from this riverside pub’s restaurant area. The exclusion felt personal since we would, after all, be canoeists ourselves come the morning. My family had teamed up with Nick’s lot for the weekend to canoe-camp along a 20-mile stretch of the River Wye, casting off at Glasbury, Powys. The thing was contending with a paddler apartheid, complete with no-go areas, had not been part of the programme.
‘Oh, it’s not that we don’t like them,’ the Boat’s barmaid assured us. ‘It’s just the state of them when they come off the river.’ A horrified mum choked on her sauvignon blanc as it dawned on her what canoeing might actually entail.
You don’t have to go to Canada to take to a Canadian canoe. But like all rookie canoeists on the increasingly popular Lower Wye, which offers some of the best beginner-friendly canoeing in Britain, we soon discovered that even a trip to the watery Welsh borders left us with lots to learn. Starting with the fact that ‘beginner-friendly’ merely meant riding the river should do us no real harm. It did not guarantee that we should stay the least bit dry. Or clean. Or dignified. As Nick and his two young sons discovered the following morning.
Jane at the Wye Valley Canoe Centre fitted us out with lifejackets, wet weather gear, laminated route maps and waterproof plastic barrels for stowing our kit. She taught us the rudiments of paddling – blade-end in the water; handle in the hand - and briefed us on safety. The Wye, benign but never quite boring, was running faster than usual (between 2 and 4 miles per hour) after the record summer rainfalls. Which meant excellent conditions – river canoeing thrives on rain – but that we were to be aware of a few minor hazards.
Our little fleet of canoes, three open boats each carrying three people, had barely passed out of sight of Glasbury’s bridge when the first such hazard loomed; a modest rapid but on a bend which was sufficiently sharp that Nick and his boys managed to capsize in eighteen inches of water. An alarmed heron rose from the nearby riverbank. Some of the dry members of our group sniggered. ‘The River Wye-ild,’ one of them quipped, perhaps unwisely, as the boys shook themselves down.
Once we had all mastered the basics - the stern paddle for steering, the forward ones for power - things took a definite turn for the better. The looping river pushed its field-fringed route between the Black Mountains and the Radnorshire hills. A kingfisher streaked across the water. A coal-black mink slunk into a pink-flowering stand of Himalayan Balsam. From the tops of the high banks, their sheer mud sides pitted with the nest holes of sand martins, cows watched us drift past. The going was easy, the powerful current pushing us past pools, overhanging willows and across rapid-strewn shallows.
Leaving the river, with its limited exit points, proved trickier. Hard paddling was required to gain the bank, something we had learned, luckily enough, by the time we reached Hay. Unlike some. Beaching our canoes beneath the town bridge, we watched others go broadside to the current before capsizing. This time, Nick and his boys laughed with us.
The river path reached the ‘town of books’ at the Three Tuns. This legendary drinking hole, which had recently re-opened following a fire, boasted a menu more suited to starving canoeists than sickly literary types – home-made pizzas for the kids, chunky sandwiches or bangers and mash for the grown-ups – and seemed free of the least paddler prejudice.
‘Oh, we had the Great Train Robbers drink in here once,’ a waitress told us. ‘I think we can cope with a few muddy souls up from the river.’
We followed lunch with a quick raid on the town’s legendary bookshops, stowing second-hand Morpurgos and Thubrons in the barrels before pushing off. The river headed north past hunched fishermen, the border running right down the middle of the channel. This fact delighted the children, who had not reckoned on a two-centre break. They zig-zagged the canoes out of England and into Wales, swapping national accents as they did so.
Late in the afternoon, not far beyond the Boat Inn, a shout came from the leading canoe. They had spied the tents. We were arriving back at Lockster’s Pool where we had made camp the previous evening. The children swam in the river while the adults built a fire and barbecued sausages. Sand martins rose to feed on the insect swarms. In the morning, the children surprised us by wanting nothing more than to be back on the river. Toads leaped from the canoes as we pushed off.
‘Ha-Wye-ii-Five-O,’ shouted Nick’s boys, disappearing downstream in a confident flurry of paddles.
We beached beneath the bridge at Bredwardine, and hauled the canoes up the steep bank into a field where the canoe operator’s van was waiting for us. We were soon back at Glasbury where lunch on the balcony of the splendid River Café felt well-earned and came, courtesy of our view over the busy Wye, complete with a whole succession of capsizing canoes for Nick and his boys to enjoy.
FACT BOX
The author was a guest of the Wye Valley Canoe Centre, Glasbury (01497 847213; www.wyevalleycanoes.co.uk). £20 per adult per day, based on two sharing a canoe, all equipment and return transport included. Kids travel free where sharing parents’ canoes. Open April-October.
Other canoe operators on the Wye include:
Paddles and Pedals, Hay-on-Wye (01497 820604; www.canoehire.co.uk); Black Mountain Activities and Hire Centre, Glasbury (01497 847897; www.blackmountain.co.uk); Wyedean Canoe Centre, Symonds Yat (01594 833238; www.wyedean.co.uk); Wye Pursuits, Ross-on-Wye (01600 891199; www.wye-pursuits.co.uk); Ross-on-Wye Canoe Hire (01600 890883; www.thecanoehire.co.uk).
Canoe operators can advise on campsites. Lockster’s Pool (fresh water; no toilet facilities) is bookable through Mrs Mason (01497 831373) at £2 per adult per night.
Eating:
River Café, Glasbury (01497 847007; www.wyevalleycanoes.co.uk). Also offers stylish B&B accommodation (£35 per person per night) above the café.
The Three Tuns, Hay-on-Wye (01497 821855; www.three-tuns.com)
The Boat Inn, Whitney-on-Wye (01497 831223)