Wye bother

A three day canoe trip down the Wye River, Herefordshire. What could be more idyllic? Dave and I met at Lucksall Caravan Park, Mordiford where a nice bloke called Ady runs Hereford Canoe Hire.

It was pouring with rain which – if that weren’t bad enough – meant that the river Wye was full and fast, and getting worse. Our original plan had been to canoe down to Monmouth over three days, but Ady felt that would be too risky. We could do a day’s canoeing to Ross on Wye and, weather permitting, carry on the following day but the campsite at Ross was full.

We debated giving up altogether but it had taken us three hours to drive to Mordiford and we really did want to do some canoeing! Ady said he could get permission for us to pitch our tents at Ross Rowing Club. So we loaded up two water-tight barrels and a dry bag with tents and provisions, persuaded Ella (Dave’s Labrador) to jump aboard our Canadian canoe and set off.

We were cold and wet, but soon got the hang of paddling and the speed of the river made for good progress. Poor Ella sat in the rain patiently watching the many swans and ducks glide past as we made our way downstream. Dave tried to rig up an umbrella for her but it kept getting caught by the wind so he gave up.

The scenery was very pretty and – not surprisingly – we had the river to ourselves but the rain was relentless.

At Hoarwithy we pulled in to the side where there were some treacherous waterlogged steps up the steep river bank. Nowhere to tie a canoe, so we had no choice but to haul it up the bank, which was not at all easy.

Trudged across a field to the New Harp Inn and stood in the bar dripping wet and shivering. Their food was overpriced and the staff not the most welcoming but we were just glad to be out of the rain.

Back to the canoe and Ella refused to jump back in – poor dog! We pressed on down a stretch of the river that was not particularly varied although we occasionally spotted a kingfisher or bird of prey. Passed by several dismantled railway bridges where only the stone towers remain.

We knew we were approaching the Ross Rowing Club as they were practising and we could hear a coach using a loud hailer from a motor boat. We lifted the canoe up the steps and up-turned it on the grass adjacent to the clubhouse. Next we had the job of erecting the tents but the rain just did not let up. At one point we saw Ella and realized exactly what ‘hang-dog’ looks like – she really did look forlorn.

Managed to get the insides of the tents reasonably dry. There was little point in changing into dry clothes so we set off for some food. The nearest pub the Hope & Anchor was OK for a drink but we didn’t fancy a meal there, so we headed into the pretty town of Ross and found the Man of Ross pub, outside which is an attractive metal sculpture ‘Salmon of the Wye’. Very friendly staff and a great selection of food. They were fine with Ella who is placid and just likes to be near Dave all the time.

Back at the tents, we settled down for a cold damp night with the combined sounds of the A40 traffic on the Wye flyover and the tink tink tink of the Rowing Club’s flagpole halyard.