Paddling down the River Severn

A few years ago we went on holiday to the Dordogne in France and whilst there we tried our hand at canoeing, in open Canadian canoes. We had a great time and this prompted us to buy our own. We have used it most years during the summer months and it has come on holiday with us to Ireland and France too.
We have done a lot of paddling down parts of the River Wye but not so much on the River Severn.
On Saturday we woke up to lovely weather. Good job as this was the day we were going paddling.We set off for Welshpool about 45 minutes drive from us. Just north of Welshpool is a small village called Pool Quay.This is where we were launching from.

Our route - from Pool Quay (bottom left) to The Royal Hill Inn (top right)

This part of the river is narrow and meandering. Not many villages lie close to the river bank so it is a great place to see wildlife and animals.
Our plan was to paddle down river to meet hubby's daughter, her partner and grand daughter (E&N)for a picnic lunch.  Although by road the distance wasn't far, by river it would be about 15miles.

Getting ready to launch from Pool Quay.

The first few miles were narrow and meandering. In some places the canoe could just about fit through between fallen trees. In past months and years the river has flooded and it was easy to see how high up the water level had gone. This had caused such obstructions to impose themselves on the river. Often we had to bend forward to avoid low hanging branches. The river was followed by the Severn Way - part of the path following Offas Dyke.

As we paddled, Maisie sat in the middle of the canoe, enjoying the views as they passed by. We thought that on such a lovely day we would perhaps see other canoeists, fishermen or walkers but the only other person we saw was a lady walker, who had stopped for a break to read a book on the left bank. She looked rather amused as we came floating past with a dog in a lifejacket.
As the river twists and turns we kept coming round a bend and seeing the imposing view of Breidden Hill in front of us. "There's that hill again!" At the top of this is an obelisk or pillar. Apparently it is called Rodneys pillar, a monument named after an Admiral Rodney. As we snaked our way along the river, our view of Rodneys pillar and the hill changed. It became apparent that half the hill is now being used as a quarry. Huge steps have been carved into the hillside, such a shame. As we continued Breidden forest came into view on the hillside.

We saw a beautiful heron on several occasions who would fly off ahead of us down the river, as if acting as a look out, telling the river inhabitants of our imminent arrival. We also passed several groups of swans who seemed quite taken aback by this strange watercraft.

Round one bend we came across some unusual bathers-

As well as bathing cows we also passed sheep with their young ewes, sat on the river bank.
After two hours of paddling we had covered about six miles and we stopped for a quick break, bums and knees were getting numb and Maisie fancied a quick run around and a swim.

We started off again and as we approached the first of only two bridges on our journey we encountered a small shallow patch which creates a riffle, almost a rapid type effect. It is best to kneel down as you go through these and keep paddling as the water is flowing much quicker here and you speed through, trying not to get too wet! Although when you see it, it can give you a dull ache in the pit of your stomach with dread and anticipation, once you have gone through it, you feel wonderful and almost wish you could go back and do it again.

Lower down the river we felt the effects of the wind much more. As the river widened, the wind was sometimes blowing against us. If we stopped paddling we found we were actually going backwards. This was more hard work now and we realised that we weren't going to get to our rendez vous point by 1pm as originally planned. Luckily we had intermittent mobile signal so phoned ahead to let E&N know we would be late.

After 12 miles we passed the River Vyrnwy tributary. You can actually paddle up there if you are feeling fit. This is where we passed back into England from Wales. From this point of the river the border between England and Wales actually runs down the middle of the river. We passed under the second bridge at Crew Green. Its an interesting looking bridge as it is an iron bridge, once a locomotive bridge,and was converted to a single track road bridge in 1962.

Finally after 4 1/2 hours in the canoe we arrived at our final meeting point, the Royal Hill Inn near Edgerley. It has a beautiful outlook onto the river and also boasts a small campsite. We dragged our canoe out of the water and fell into a heap on the picnic blanket to refuel and catch up with the family.

We had a brilliant day, saw all sorts of wildlife that you would never see if you were driving along a road. Life from the river is worth looking at from time to time.

Useful links:

Click here for a canoeing guide to the River Severn.

Click here to visit the website of the Royal Hill Inn and campsite.