Woke to another fine morning with noisy house martins busily flitting back and forth to their nests in the eaves of the White Lion. We had an excellent cooked breakfast there on the terrace, watching swans gliding back and forth along the river before Mark Simons from The River Wye Canoe Hire Company arrived to issue us with our equipment.
He also gave us a safety briefing and instructions for dealing with various hazards and features along the river. It was a lot to take in, and one person in another group was so fazed she changed her mind and decided not to canoe.
We packed two watertight barrels and dragged our canoe down the bank and into the water. Ella jumped in, and we were off!! The gentle current helped us along and we enjoyed paddling down the river which was crystal clear. We saw no fish, but lots of gently swaying fronds of weed which must have been two or three metres long.
At Lower Lydbrook we stopped for a lunch break. This meant dragging the canoe onto the mud bank already occupied by several others. Steps led up to a grassed picnic area and across the road, The Courtfield Arms.
Inside, this has the quiet comfortable ambience of an up-market hotel, with a menu to match. We didn’t want to pay £5.50 for a posh baguette after our hearty breakfast so we just sat outside with a drink. We watched with mild curiosity as two detectives got out of a police car and spent some time investigating something further up the road.
A quick walk around Lower Lydbrook – which we felt was a little run-down – and back to the river. We passed Welsh Bicknor Youth Hostel and church, then paddled under an old cast-iron railway bridge. Mark had told us to ignore the painted sign here and keep to the centre of the river, not to the left.
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