The Wye Valley, Symonds Yat, weirs and wonderful...?

Greenheart

Greenheart

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Saw the Richard Wilson "Best British Drives" the other night. I'm wondering if, next summer, I was to sail a big dinghy round Devon and Cornwall, up the Bristol Channel, would it be possible (and worthwhile) to paddle/row and (bridges allowing) sometimes sail, up the Wye?

The river looks very beautiful on screen...is it, in fact? I've read there are weirs which make things entertaining for kayaking, but are they so steep and rapid as to prevent a hefty wooden dinghy being towed up them against the stream? And, how difficult is acquiring a permit?

It must be my Fitzcarraldo inclination again...how far up a river can I get a boat not intended for use there? :rolleyes:

By the way, I know I could trailer the dinghy the first 350 miles, but it's early days yet, so I can be bold instead of sensible.
 
There is a legal right of navigation as far upstream as Hay Bridge, Hay on Wye

However, it would be quite some challenge to get anything much bigger than a canoe that far upstream

Many years ago an intrepid chap managed, with much fuss and ado, to get a barge most of the way up to Hay (my memory suggests he did actually make it but I can't find any references to check) intending to establish it as a floating restaurant. He encountered significant resistance from militant locals, landowners and anglers to the extent that rocks were placed in strategic places to scupper his attempts and there were accusations of sabotage and what have you. There was, I'm sure, some legal action as well but again I can't find any references to it.

I used to canoe on the Wye many many many years ago <sigh, TOO many years ago!> and from memory I think the rapids at Symonds Yat would certainly be the absolute limit of progress upstream in anything larger than a canoe unless you're of the barking mad crazy fool persuasion :D

Downstream of the rapids, the river is still pretty fast flowing. There are some large river trip boats operating at the Yat though. However, the usual suggested limit of navigation for seagoing craft is Bigsweir Bridge, 15 miles upstream of the confluence with the Severn Estuary, and well downstream of Monmouth
 
The chap with the barge got as far as Hereford but I don't think he would have tried a second time.

I too canoed on the Wye based in Monmouth. I tried, in about 1970, to sail a small dinghy above the bridge at Monmouth with no success; the river stream is too strong and the river is quite shallow, not more than 4ft and with frequent large boulders. On each occasion one of us ended getting into the river to prevent the boat getting caught by the mast on the bridge having sailed backwards from the boathouse steps! Not an experiment I will be repeating!

I understand that there is now the added problem of significant weed growth, because of nutrient run-off(?), to impede progress. I don't know how the rowing club manage.
 
Sandgrounder said:
The chap with the barge got as far as Hereford but I don't think he would have tried a second time..
Click to expand...

Ah yes, my memory was indeed at fault

As I recall, apart from the alleged sabotage, he had all sorts of problems getting over shallows and past rapids and the whole excercise just about broke him financially and physically?

I note that on google earth there is a barge moored just on the outskirts of Hereford near the sewage farm (:eek:) which I assume is the very same vessel (I can't imagine anybody else has tried it). Seems to be in the middle of nowhere with no vehicular access but it doesn't appear to be a derelict?
 
I didn't realise it was still there; there's usually too much traffic around to be looking when crossing the bridges in Hereford. I can imagine that it did break the owner, in both senses.
I would imagine that if anyone wanted to try that now they would deliver by road and rely on cranes? Less adventure but probably more practical.

If Dan wants to try the river there used to be a sailing club on the spit between the Wye and the Severn at Chepstow. I think they launched on on the Severn and then sailed round under the old bridge. I always preferred Llangorse which was the alternative - chicken see.
 
do it

well done Dan Crane

sense of adventuyre still alive

the barge was still there a few years ago

he used to wait until there was a flood to get enough water to move up the next bit

my advice is to borrow a canoe and do it downhill first

going uphill would be a tough thing to do unless you have a vectorable outboard and a lot of spare shear pins

great adventure though

do it

film it

what dinghy?

Dylan
 
Brigantia said:
Ah yes, my memory was indeed at fault



I note that on google earth there is a barge moored just on the outskirts of Hereford near the sewage farm (:eek:) which I assume is the very same vessel (I can't imagine anybody else has tried it). Seems to be in the middle of nowhere with no vehicular access but it doesn't appear to be a derelict?
Click to expand...

It was certainly there 6 months ago. Looked to be still in good order. As you say it is only approachable via foot, around a 20 minute walk from the nearest road.
 
I can't find it on Google Earth but who knows when the pictures were taken, except that the trees were in full leaf.

With regard to the OP's proposition I think it is a great idea and I agree with Dylan that a downhill canoe trip would be good preparation and very enjoyable too.
The local histories of Monmouth, of which I used to know a little, show barges coming up river as far as Monmouth until the railways arrived in the Wye Valley in the. Apparently they used to unload them on the other bank from the town approximately where the School playing fields are now.
If you want to go upstream you will probably need to row because the river is quite fast flowing - enough, at least, to make swimming quite hard work and that was when I was young and fit! With regard to depth you should be fine until you get to the rapids at The Bibblins and then at Symmonds Yat both of which are very shallow except when the river is in spate, when of course the rate of flow is very fast anyway thus cancelling out any advantage. At this point you would need to carry your boat past the rapids. What the man with the barge did I have no idea.
Good luck with it.
 
Just walked down to the barge, it is still there. It is well aground, looking at the height of the river I think it would need to be near to flood conditions to move it from where it is. Still looks in ok condition, it is in a lovely spot, very quiet, would be a nice place to live.
As to the original question of the O.P. I would transport the dinghy up river and do the journey the other way. Cheating but a lot easier. It is navigable depending on the height of the river. Better option would be a canoe, plenty of places to wild camp, beautiful part of the world.
 
dylanwinter said:
going uphill would be a tough thing to do unless you have a vectorable outboard and a lot of spare shear pins
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Sounds like a good application for a jetski to me :D:D:D

Seriously, plenty of power, steerable thrust, no external prop, buggerall draft.

You'd probably be even less popular than the chap with the barge though :)

A work colleague races a hovercraft most weekends - how about one of those? :D

Pete
 
canadian canoe

about a decade ago a friend and I took a canadian canoe down the Wye

we took one heck of a lot of wine and bear, smoked hamlets as we drifted down

hardly paddled at all - just drifted most of the way

camped wild

smelt like bilge rats at the end

one of the best weeks of my life

Dylan
 
Thank you for so many informed replies. I'm still entranced by the idea of the journey, however challenging it might be.

As to type of dinghy, that is still wide open. I want a seaworthy dinghy with camping practicality; and the "will I/won't I buy a Wayfarer?" question has occupied more than plenty of space on the forum already. But whatever I buy, it'll have an easily-lowered mast!

Pete...hovercrafts and jet-skis? Shame on the very idea, sir! Humour or genuine idea, that's the sort of loose-lips that sink ships. There's always some young fruitcake who'll think "yeah, why not?!". And centuries of heavenly peace is relegated to memory. :(

Dylan's downstreaming trip sounds...about as good as freshwater floating can ever get. The sun, the stylish Canadian canoe, the relaxed intoxication and cigar-smoke...sublimely wonderful. I can almost see Billy Wordsworth sitting, thinking on the bank, lonely as a cloud...

Note to self: carry a bar of soap, rather than repeat Dylan's confessed uncleanliness.

I don't see the barge on Google Earth, either. Could JordanBassett say exactly which bridge it is near?

As I say, I remain as keen as before. Part of my weird interest in rivers, is the idea of taking a sea-boat as far from the sea as possible, (without needing wheels or a Huey). All the same, the weirs & rapid currents make it sound as great a trial as getting round Cornwall!
 
prv said:
Sounds like a good application for a jetski to me :D:D:D

Seriously, plenty of power, steerable thrust, no external prop, buggerall draft.

You'd probably be even less popular than the chap with the barge though :)

A work colleague races a hovercraft most weekends - how about one of those? :D

Pete
Click to expand...

As a "local" I have a little experience on The Severn / Wye.

- Many years ago I did a couple of jet ski trips as far as Tintern and back around high water. I have launched into the Wye at "The Boat", Chepstow and also from the slipway under the Old Severn Bridge into the Severn at Sedbury.

- I was also a member Lydney Yacht Club for several years. They schedule an annual event ..... Launch at Sedbury, sail to LYC for a pint at high water and then back to Sedbury. Sadly, I never got my pint as the tide turned against me circa 200m from the club! Needless to say you dont want to miss the slipway on the way back!

- I have also done Ross to Symons Yat in a Canadian canoe. It is VERY shallow in places (too shallow to float an empty canoe) The swans are a bit fierce!

I keep meaning have a go at Chepstow > Redbrook with my tender / outboard in the closed season. I can verify it is very pretty all the way to Monmouth. Might be safer with two dinghies? Anyone fancy joining me one weekend :-)
 
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dancrane said:
Thank you for so many informed replies. I'm still entranced by the idea of the journey, however challenging it might be.

As to type of dinghy, that is still wide open. I want a seaworthy dinghy with camping practicality; and the "will I/won't I buy a Wayfarer?" question has occupied more than plenty of space on the forum already. But whatever I buy, it'll have an easily-lowered mast!

Pete...hovercrafts and jet-skis? Shame on the very idea, sir! Humour or genuine idea, that's the sort of loose-lips that sink ships. There's always some young fruitcake who'll think "yeah, why not?!". And centuries of heavenly peace is relegated to memory. :(

Dylan's downstreaming trip sounds...about as good as freshwater floating can ever get. The sun, the stylish Canadian canoe, the relaxed intoxication and cigar-smoke...sublimely wonderful. I can almost see Billy Wordsworth sitting, thinking on the bank, lonely as a cloud...

Note to self: carry a bar of soap, rather than repeat Dylan's confessed uncleanliness.

I don't see the barge on Google Earth, either. Could JordanBassett say exactly which bridge it is near?

As I say, I remain as keen as before. Part of my weird interest in rivers, is the idea of taking a sea-boat as far from the sea as possible, (without needing wheels or a Huey). All the same, the weirs & rapid currents make it sound as great a trial as getting round Cornwall!
Click to expand...

I have huge respect for Lydney Yacht Club. The things they do with Wayfarers and Drascombe Luggers! Check out their annunal summer cruise here
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s8YVKm8PVzU
 
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