Only five of us rather than the seven we had on our last trip, but still fitting the Enid Blyton theme…
After some last-minute changes due to heavy forecast rain, five intrepid paddlers (Chris, Dave, Pete, Sam H and Steve) set off on a ‘slightly harder’ trip than the ‘easy white water’ one we had planned for Sunday 27 Nov. We got onto the river at Pantysgallog, upstream of Sennybridge and just below the sticky-looking Grade 3+ falls, setting oursleves up to enjoy the first exciting little grade 2 gorge section followed by the well-known ‘three falls’ between Sennybridge and Aberbran. We got out to inspect each of these and ran them all successfully, unlike members of another group who showed us ‘what not to do’ by directing several of their less experienced paddlers on a poor line over the third fall which resulted in them capsizing in the recirculating stopper and pinned boats being rescued from the centre of the river. Thankfully no-one was hurt (other than their pride!) but it did offer a salutary reminder of how easily things can go wrong, especially when the river isn’t treated with the respect and caution it deserves… The rest of the trip was an uneventful bounce all the way to Brecon Promenade, with smiling faces all round after a good, long day on the river. Here’s hoping for lower water for our next ‘easy’ white water trip on 22 January.
Apologies for the blurry photos – all from the ‘first fall’ downstream of Sennybridge.
