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A HUNDRED MILES ON THE RIVER WYE through the counties of Radnor, Brecknock, Hereford and Monmouth. 

Chapter XIX of "My Holidays on Inland Waterways" by P Bonthron 1916

AFTER many experiences in southern waters, our next exploits were farther afield, the River Wye being decided on for a Spring cruise at Eastertime. It is a far cry from London to our starting point, and the journey to Hay (Brecknock) took us altogether about seven hours, travelling by the G.W. Railway from Paddington, via Gloucester and Hereford. Hay is a primitive little Welsh town of some 1,700 inhabitants, and report has it that at a certain point near here one can throw stones into the three counties of Brecknock, Radnor and Hereford.

The boat that was to do service on the journey we had sent on from Salter Bros., Oxford, and on our arrival at the station we found it awaiting us. A portage was necessary to the riverside, and with the assistance of half-a-dozen navvies we managed to launch our skiff.

With a good strong crew eager for the fray, and everything found to be shipshape, we made a start on our long looked forward trip on the Wye.

This river has deservedly a great reputation for its natural beauties, and enthusiasts claim for it first place in the United Kingdom in this respect.

The navigable part for boating purposes is nearly 100 miles in length, from Hay to Chepstow, and is of a particularly tortuous character, which makes it about two and a half times the distance as the crow flies, and it is only at certain times of the year that these higher reaches can be navigated.

Notwithstanding our expectations as to the state of the river, we found shortly after getting away that we were grounding again and again, in fact so much that two of our crew had to dispense with their foot-gear to enable us to push the boat along over the shallows. This was quite a novel experience, but had we not done so, our journey at this part would have been impossible, as during the day our "emergency men" had to be called into requisition again and again.

There is no doubt that a journey such as this is fraught with considerable danger, and there is a great element of luck in escaping damage considering the amount of keel scraping we encountered even in the recognized channels; consequently none but strongest boats are fit to undertake such a voyage.

And so we proceeded on our cruise, enjoying the fine varying scenery, pleasing in every way, and with a style peculiarly its own. In the distance of thirty miles of our day's work we did not pass a town and saw very few people. Our only companions were the bleating, lambs on the hill-sides, and there were scores of them about. In the absence of landmarks on the route, not even bridges, there is a difficulty in knowing one's whereabouts, and so down you speed, as it were, on an endless river.

In addition to the shallows we had many weirs to shoot, and these not without danger, but the worst navigable part of the river is at Mornington Rocks or Falls. One is made aware of this by the roar like unto that of many waters as it is approached. There are two channels at this point, divided by an island; the left one courts disaster, so we chose the other, dragging the boat over a long shallow rocky bed. This we negotiated satisfactorily after considerable exertion.

Thereafter all went well until within four miles of Hereford, when, coming over a shallow, we felt a distinct bump, and shortly after water was discovered in the boat. It was a case of "all hands to the pump," and we had to start baling out, and, by doing this continuously, we managed to keep the boat afloat and safely reached Hereford, our destination, not reluctantly, however, as we had had a long and exciting day of it.

With such risks and the liability of mishaps, a pilot would be advisable, and anyone doing the journey could procure one from the boatman at Hereford Bridge. We, however, elected to do our own pilotage.

Hereford is a fine old county town and has man attractions, the old cathedral and church being the chief. Hereford Market, principally for cattle, is one of the most important in the West Country.

At this point we noted the rise and fall of the river where the winter flood mark showed traces on the trees and bushes to the extent of some 10 feet above our present level. It was interesting to learn that a local boatman - whom we came across - when a lad remembered the last barge that was navigated from Hay some half a century ago. Now commercial traffic has been abandoned generally since the Wye Valley Railway was opened in 1876.

Record has it, too, that an Act was passed for the Wye Navigation so far back as 1662, showing the ancient traditions of this waterway.

We also were informed that shipbuilding was carried on at Hereford in the early days, and there is a picture in the town of the launch of a brig 170 tons burden, built in 1823. One would not think such a thing possible, but so it was. The means adopted when navigating these ships down to the sea was to fill the holds of the ships with a sufficient quantity of water to enable them to get clear under the arches of the bridges at the opportune flood time.

We again made an early start on our second day with a journey of about 28 miles before us, Ross being our destination. The river became somewhat wider as we got along and the depth of water was more favourable; at the same time the course had to be carefully watched, as shallows and weirs still abound in places. We, however, with the aid also of a good current, got on very well and had not the keel scraping experiences described earlier; the wind also, which had been against us on the previous day, was now in our favour and we had our first experience of sailing, which took us along under very pleasant conditions for some 15 miles down stream.

The scenery was of a grander character, but not so interesting, perhaps, as that passed on the previous day. We did not, however, see it to the same advantage as one would later in the season when the foliage would be farther advanced.

The only signs of life we saw hereabouts were some half-dozen salmon fishers plying their gentle art, chiefly in midstream, and we were fortunate to see, in passing, three salmon being played and landed, the largest being 22 lbs. in weight. The Wye has a famous reputation as a salmon river, and is consequently taken great advantage of by anglers.

Being far away from civilization our victualling was all done aboard our craft each day, and lunch and tea were important functions, and very enjoyable they were under such picnic conditions. At last we see Ross in the distance - prominent from afar with its fine situation, and here we landed. We had some difficulty in procuring rooms with the Bank Holiday tourists about, but at length we got comfortably housed at the Swan Hotel. Our stay here was a pleasant one and we "did" the town - a place of about 3,300 inhabitants - and visited the fine old church, with its stately spire, situated on the promontory. Inside this church there is the unusual sight of two elm trees growing, the roots of which can be seen from outside the walls.

The " Man of Ross," John Kyrle by name and immortalized by Pope, is buried in the church. His fame was more than local as he was identified by his philanthropic actions. He died in 1724.

The view from the hill at Ross is very grand, embracing as it does that part known as the "Horse Shoe" bend of the river. Boating is indulged in here, but the motor boat has not much scope owing to the shallows; however, a small excursion steamer, built locally, with stern paddle wheels - drawing but a few inches of water - plied up and down stream for a course of some six miles.

The following morning opened with a snow storm, then a storm of wind - and it can blow in the gullies hereabouts. It worked the river up to a little sea, so much so that it necessitated our heaving to for some time as progress was impossible. Then, following that, we had bright sunshine and finished up with a rainstorm, really a good day's sample of the British climate.

The beauties of the Wye have been often described and there is no doubt as to the striking grandeur of the scenery; as we travelled along some very fine views opened up en route, the approach to Symonds Yat being particularly imposing. There is a continuity, too, of the fine scenery for miles, in fact up to some 30 to 40 miles ahead, and the great hills, beautifully wooded, make it a picture not easily to be forgotten, and difficult to be equalled elsewhere.

We landed and ascended to the top of the hills - where a flagstaff marks the summit, and here we had a commanding view of the surroundings showing a wide expanse of country. The town or village of Symonds Yat itself is of a quaint and straggling character on the hill-side and is not unlike a Swiss town.

Some few miles below this we reached Monmouth, an old English county town well worth landing to see, and here history tells us that Henry the Fifth was born in the year 1387.

The navigation was not quite so hazardous on the whole, although there were three weirs, at Lydford, Symonds Yat and Bigsweir, that want careful navigating, and woe betide the boatman who does not do just exactly the right thing. I might say that after actually accomplishing these risky achievements of "shooting the shoots" we breathed somewhat more freely.

Our sailing arrangements were satisfactory, as we did about two-thirds of the 28 miles under canvas, which made a delightful change after the sculling exercise.

Llandogo (Monmouth), an unpretentious little village, was our resting place for the night, and here we had arranged to stop on account of the tidal arrangements on the morrow. On this our fourth and last day, we made an early start to catch the top of the tide, and lucky we were to do so as it happened; the navigation wants careful watching, being of a somewhat risky character. The rise and fall at the estuary is quite abnormal, and is said to be greater than anywhere else except in the Bay of Fundy, a strange but striking fact; and the highest tide recorded at Chepstow is said to have been no less than 65 feet. With all these reports in our minds we looked for a very rapid current, but to our surprise it was not so unmanageable, and we could quite well hold our own when controlling our craft down the rapid tidal way.

Three miles down from Llandogo we came to Tintern Abbey, known to tourists as one of the most picturesque in England, with its fine architectural examples dating from the 13th century, and it is well worth a visit.

The river, as it wends its way down to the sea, assumes a greater width and the heights on either side command attention.

Just approaching the completion of our journey some 10 miles down from Llandogo, Chepstow Castle came in view. It is beautifully situated on the right bank, and is a fine old fortress. Shortly after we arrived at Chepstow Bridge, our destination, where ended what had been a most successful and enjoyable trip.

Everything was in our favour - fair wind and tide - the only drawback being the coldness of the weather at times, but notwithstanding we had a lot of sunshine. With the assistance of some half-dozen salmon fishermen, we had our boat hoisted from the low water up the causeway some 50ft. to the roadway, whence, it was conveyed to the station and railed back to Oxford; and so ended our holiday.

The full text of the book can be found here http://easyweb.easynet.co.uk/jim.shead/MHIW-TIC.htm

The following description of the book and its author is taken from that website.

My Holidays on Inland Waterways was first published in 1916 as a 5½ by 8½ inch (14 by 21 cm), 186 page volume with 74 four illustrations (photographs) and a map. It relates the author's extensive cruises by motor boat and skiff on the canals and rivers of England, Scotland and Wales.

From reading the book it appears that the author, Peter Bonthron, was a successful businessman, a city gent. He had a smart motor boat, at a time when motor boating was in its infancy, a large houseboat on the Thames and a chauffeur driven car; but although he may have been rich he was certainly not idle. His "holidays" were often short breaks taken at weekends and public holidays. They were invariably time limited and the voyages planned to cram the maximum amount of cruising into each day. In consequence we often find delays causing him to journey till 10 or 11 p.m. and his party knocking on the doors of slumbering inn keepers. When he did take a longer holiday (nearly 3 weeks) he cruised 260 miles by boat, on 2 rivers and 4 canals, in East Anglia and Scotland.

To those interested in waterways history this book supplies evidence of the state of various navigations in the first few years of the twentieth century. Cruises on the Grantham Canal, the Thames & Severn, Forth & Clyde and Kennet & Avon are among the many of relevance to the condition of trade and pleasure boating at this time. Even on the "Timeless Thames" we find some revelations as they take the Oxford Canal to Dukes Cut "to avoid Medley and King's Weirs, where shallows abounded". Bonthron was interested in waterborne trade and often comments on its use, or lack of use, on the waterways he visits.

For the general reader the book gives some fascinating glimpses of life at the time. In the first chapter we find the author procuring the services of a horse and man (who he describes as a local yeoman) to stand-by to assist through the difficult stretches of the river. At other times he engages various watermen, lock keepers, farmhands and others to tow the boat or work locks. These are often in addition to the motorboat engineer and handy man that form part of the regular crew. Bonthron also comments on the people he meets, the merits of the scenery and the places visited; comments that reveal as much about him and the social attitudes of the times as about the subjects he observes.

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