The river Severn is a public navigation below Pool Quay. Above it, apparently it isn’t very good anyway, with much of it blocked by over hanging trees and obstructions in the water. There are two good launching points at Pool Quay. One is between Welshpool and Pool Quay at the end of the straight stretch of road. 
The river butts right up against the A483. There is a lay-by on the right, only a few meters from a farm gate into a field where you can safely launch and leave your car in the lay by.
The second launch is a little further on, in Pool Quay nearly opposite the pub, down a farm track. 
This gets you to a large metal and sleepers farm bridge and there is a suitable launch just above it on the right. The bridge is private property and can not be negotiated with a vehicle, there isn’t any turning at the end of the track and it is very difficult to exit from it back onto the road, as it is right on the brow of a hill. There is no parking on the main road.
As Pool Quay is the earliest permitted starting point on this river, we decided to start our journey there. We did some research and despite the easy access and parking of the first launch, other notes suggested that the stretch between the two suitable launching points was overgrown and contained a drop and a rapid. As this was our maiden voyage we decided to avoid this.
So, with the help of THREE pumps we inflated ‘Barry’ our Sevylor Hudson (2 +1 man) canoe. We were careful to put the small stabilising fin on the bottom before we inflated the boat. Once inflated with all the little seats blown up and the dry bag full of snacks, we carried it to launch, where…….. the fin fell off. Mistake number one was not putting it back on, but it is a total sod to do when the boat is inflated and rigid.
In we jumped and off we went. The first 2 and a bit miles were plain sailing. The river banks were vast and sheep stared at us from up high. We met a family of swans who eventually kept to the sides and let us pass. 
We realised that the water level was quite low. Debris which had been swept along by a much higher water level hung high above us in the trees and we could see the bottom of the river in many places. Occasionally submerged rocks would cause the sometimes flat water surface to gargle and hurry along. Mini rapids. We grounded a couple of times.
I snapped away with my camera, the weather was fab, with some cloud but sunny and a pleasant temperature and the reflections of the river bank and the sky were stunning. We experienced some trouble steering even with both of us paddling on the same side and we regretted not having put the fin on as it would have made the boat more responsive. We had some snacks and a drink as we went, from the dry bag behind me.
Then we reached an area shown on the map at the roundabout. The river had been looping back and forth but here, it nearly made a full circle. Just a thin slither of land prevented it from joining up and cutting this huge loop off. We grounded. Ahead we could see some rapids, larger than we had seen before and a bit over grown, but after taking another picture I stuffed my camera in the plastic bag inside my buoyancy aid and got my paddles at the ready. We wriggled loose and tried to aim for a gap through the branches and over hanging trees.
This is where we made mistake number two, which was simply that we attempted this bit. We now know that it is called Stoney Rapids, but the accounts we had read about it was that it was not very stoney and certainly not rapid and we had not expected it to be in this location in any case.
What happened next was very rapid. We missed the narrow gap, the canoe swung sideways, heading for the trees, the current got hold and pushed it against the branches blocking the river, and tipped it up along the long side and dumped us in the water. As I had been at the back, I was nearest the bank and in the thickest of trees. I remember surfacing, disorientated and stuck in the branches but at the same time being pulled by the current and pushed by the boat which was now upside down. I managed to just feel some slimy rocks with my feet cling on to the branches.
I screamed for squirt and after what seemed like an age, I heard him say he got him. Squirt had been in the front, so the middle of the river, and 
when they both surfaced he had the sense of mind to make a grab for him. On second attempt he succeeded and was able to plant him on the tree branch. We all seemed OK but as the current continued to pull at the boat we saw paddles, shoes, socks, a water bottle, all disappearing down the river. We still had the main paddle, but everything else was either disappearing or very wet. The stuff in the dry bag wasn’t dry as I hadn’t closed it properly after the last snack. My camera was dripping as the bag had leaked.
My phone was dry as it was in a triple sealed special waterproof bag on a cord around Squirts neck. We took a good 10 minutes clinging to the tree, deciding what to do, but eventually I managed to get round the boat and behind it and get to the shallower water. Squirt was persuaded to let go of the branch and climb on top of the canoe and make his way across it to me in the middle of the river. We managed to get him to the bank. I had to go back in to help right the canoe which we managed eventually. We got back in the canoe and went after our stuff, catching all but the socks at the next bend. There was a nice beachy area here, albeit covered in cow pats, but we didn’t care and plonked down like ship wreck survivors. We wrung out our clothes and dried off a bit, checked ourselves for injuries and cling-ons. Squirt had a tiny scratch on the bottom of his foot. I had several bruises but the full extent wouldn’t become clear until the evening.
We will have to put this dunking down to experience and have learned several things:
- Don’t set sail without the fin – like EVER
- Don’t attempt rapids in overgrown/blocked areas when you don’t know what you are doing
- Research the stretch of river thoroughly, check the currency and conditions of any reports
- Take river levels into account when choosing a route
- Close the dry bag properly
- Don’t have anything in the boat unless it is tied down and is OK to get wet
- Wear shoes at all times
- Tell someone where you are going and have someone prepared to come and retrieve
- Ensure you have at least one dry phone
We eventually continued our trip but had to get out several times to negotiate over grown and blocked areas. We continued to have steering problems and the next 6 and a bit miles seemed like an eternity. We had planned to go as far as the Royal Hill Inn at Melverly but as we rounded the corner at Llandrinio we could hear the roar of rapids. During our research we had read to take the centre arch and they were probably miniscule and there were no branches or obstructions but by this time I had had enough. We phoned our retrieval crew and spent the evening licking our wounds and enjoying a BBQ.
Even if I was experienced and canoeing solo, I would avoid this stretch. The thrill of that one rapid doesn’t outweigh the misery of the narrow, shallow, branches blocked majority of this part of the river!
Download a map of the 8 and a bit mile trip starting bottom left.
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