My in-laws, David and Donna, visited us this weekend so we decided to make the short drive over to Wales and spend Saturday on the River Wye, canoeing from Huntsham Bridge back to Monmouth.

Our day began at the Monmouth Canoe Centre which has been operating for over forty years now. We’ve visited before, with parties from work, spending a whole day on the river paddling the fourteen miles from Kerne Bridge back to Monmouth.

This time we decided to take the half day option, launching at Huntsham Bridge and making our way seven miles down river, back to Monmouth. We arrived at 10am, got kitted out with buoyancy aids, helmets (only necessary for the rapids) and waterproof tubs for our valuables. Then, following a short briefing, we were driven to our launch point, Huntsham Bridge.

We had good weather with little or no wind so, suitably lathered in sun cream we launched and set off for Monmouth. The water levels were quite low, which is quite normal for summer, and with next to no current to push us forward, any momentum would have to come from us. With no headwind we moved along at a nice, easy steady rate.

I wasn’t sure what to expect on the river as it’s received quite a lot of negative press recently. That related to the condition of the water following several deliberate sewage spills by the local water companies.

However, we saw no evidence of that and all seemed good to me. The water was clear and straight away we saw Egrets and Heron’s fishing off the banks and wading in shallow water. We saw plenty of ducks, swans and dragonflies as we moved along the river. I’ve always been told that Kingfishers are a good indicator of excellent water quality and we saw several of those as we paddled downstream.

Symonds Yat was quite busy with pleasure boats, paddleboarders and other canoeists. We didn’t have any problems there though and caught a glimpse of the house used as Jean and Otis’ home in the TV series – Sex Education. The series was filmed in this area and we recognised certain locations as we paddled through.

The rapids at Symonds Yat were pretty much a non event, due to the lower summer water levels. In fact, all in all, the trip was quite uneventful apart from grounding out on shallow water at one point and getting stuck on some rocks. The water was only ankle deep at this point so I was able to climb out of the canoe and pull us off.

Canoeing the river is a lovely way to spend half a day. It took us about four hours without a stop. There are pubs on the river at Symonds Yat where you can moor up at if you want food or a drink etc. The scenery is stunning and there’s lots of wildlife to see along the way. I wish I had more photos but I kept the camera in a waterproof tub, for obvious reasons, and it wasn’t always to hand for a wildlife shot.

Monmouth itself is a lovely little Bohemian town and a great place to wander around. It’s a short walk in to the centre of town from the canoe centre and there are plenty of pubs and coffee shops. Canoe trip over, we wandered in to town and had a cream tea there before leaving. That went down very well after our exertions on the river.

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All images: ©Stephen Hyde 2007-2025 – All rights reserved.