The A2BWales team booked a canoe hire trip on the River Wye with Black Mountain Activities based in the village of Three Cocks, Brecon, Mid Wales (see map bottom left). The booking process was fairly simple and communication from BMA leading up to the day of the trip was very good. One good reason for using BMA when hiring canoes is that your car is parked within the grounds of the activity centre, reassuring when you are away for a few nights (although as always it’s at your own risk).
Upon arrival we were issued with our kit, that included bouyancy aids, paddles and dry barrels. Our canoes were loaded up onto a trailor and the six of us were transfered to the launch site at Glasbury in the company minibus.
Setting Off From Glasbury
At Glasbury, we unloaded the minibus and were issued with our canoes. There is about a 50 yard walk to the river edge launch point.
When launching make sure you head slightly upstream towards the centre of the river before turning downstream as the water can be fairly fast flowing here (unlike the two under the bridge).
Taking in the River View…
Kilverts Pub, Hay on Wye
The river levels were quite high and made for quicker travel times between our planned stops. We arrived at our first stop of the day, Hay on Wye approximately 1.5 hours after setting off. There is about a 10 minute walk from the rivers edge up into the town, where we had lunch at Kilverts pub. One hour later and suitably refreshed from our pizzas, chicken, pies and pints we headed back to the canoes for an afternoon of leisurely paddling down the river.
Meandering Down The River Wye
Another 2 hours of canoeing saw us arrive at our destination for the night, the Boat Inn at Witney on Wye.
There is an excellent B&B here (The Pound) that also runs the camping site just opposite the Boat Inn.
The Pound B&B
Carol the owner of the B&B mentioned that the camping site is soon to benefit from it’s own shower block and will help to alleviate the current situation whereby you have to take turns in the shower room next to the Boat Inn. Full cooked breakfast and camping overnight cost just £10.00 and rooms at the B&B start from £35 per night. Two of the team stayed in the B&B and the rest camped out in the field, both sets commented on the excellent value for money.
The Boat Inn
We should mention that the Boat Inn also offers a B&B service, with 10 rooms including a family room available. The evening was spent at the Boat Inn, with an excellent menu, good beer and some not very good dart playing. Tony the landlord is a good host and looked after us well, introducing us to the locals and recanting stories of days at sea, “well at least I think he did, sounds good anyway”.
After an excellent breakfast at “The Pound”, we headed on over to the garage to stock up on food for the day as there are no stops along the route where you can buy food within a 10 minute walk. We then set off from the Boat Inn launch point for our final day of canoeing. Plenty of wildlife was seen on the river as we made our way towards Bredwardine for a short stop on the banks for lunch.
After lunch, excitement was building as we were heading towards Scar and Monnington falls, in truth the afternoon went by without incident due to the river levels being so high which made for easier passing. We arrived at Bridge Sollers, our pick up point at around 14:30 and telephoned BMA to say that we were ready for pickup. Twenty minutes later and our transport back to the centre arrived. A little tired, a bit wet and all the better for it, we headed back to the base and unloaded our kit.
Verdict…
An excellent two day trip, some good food, tranquil scenery and exercising of the arms both in and out of the water. What more could you want? A resounding two thumbs up from all who took part.
A return trip is already being planned…
Note: You should have some experience of handling a canoe before deciding to hire, preferably you will have taken an introductory course. Never canoe alone and if you are taking children on the river, you should have at least one adult per child. Bouyancy aids should be worn at all times. This is just general common sense advice and does not constitute professional advice in any way.
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