Paddle the Wye

(2 customer reviews)
BY: Mark Rainsley
ISBN: 9781906095871
EDITION: second
PUBLICATION DATE: 21 February 2022
FORMAT: paperback; 176 pages; 240 x 170mm; colour photos, and maps
AVAILABILITY: in print

£15.99

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Completely revised and updated 2nd edition. First published as River Wye Canoe and Kayak guide.

The Wye is one of Britain’s finest canoe and kayak touring rivers, and offers something for every kind of paddler. This guide provides the information and advice you need to plan your own Wye journey, whether it’s single or multi-day, whitewater or sedate cruising.

The author, Mark Rainsley, has divided the river into 15 sections, which are described in detail with distances, grades, access points and campsites. These sections can be paddled as single day trips, or combined into multi-day adventures, and there are suggested itineraries for both whitewater and touring expeditions that range from 3 to 5 days. To help you plan your journey there is advice on equipment, safety and access, as well as information on wildlife, culture and landscape.


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Mark Rainsley

Mark has spent three decades using paddlesport as a means of avoiding adulthood and responsibility. He is a fanatical paddler who has descended challenging whitewater rivers worldwide, and who is dedicated to exploring every nook and cranny of the UK’s coast by sea kayak. He created the UK Rivers and UK Sea Kayak websites and is a prolific contributor to paddlesport magazines and other media. Mark authored the Pesda Press guidebook South West Sea Kayaking, and has contributed to other Pesda titles such as English Whitewater and South East England and Channel Islands Sea Kayaking. Mark’s earliest experience of paddlesport was on regular family holidays to the River Wye, in the 1970s. He floundered around in a barge-like fibreglass kayak, which his dad also used to terrify the family by carrying out a death-defying impromptu descent of the Symonds Yat rapids. In more recent times, Mark has become a parent himself and has relished introducing his daughter to paddlesport via canoe expeditions on the River Wye.

2 reviews for Paddle the Wye

  1. Elizabeth Garnett –

    Mark Rainsley’s aim is to inspire everyone to ‘get on the river’. This guidebook to the River Wye does just that! Whether you’re a whitewater fanatic or are looking for a family canoe adventure, this guidebook has something for you. The river has been divided into 15 easy to navigate sections, which for completeness also includes a walk up Plynlimon to find the source and the more challenging trip out to the tidal mouth on the River Severn. Each section has a beautifully detailed map, which shows access and egress points, named rapids, campsites and points of interest.

    Every page is filled with colour photographs which show the author’s skill and capture the river’s changing character. Even the river descriptions are extremely readable; they are filled with loving detail, enhanced by descriptions of wildlife and quotes from 18th Century Wye Tours. Added to this are sections on kit, safety, wildlife, geology and history. There’s even a piece written by a teenager describing her Duke of Edinburgh expedition experience. When you are ready to plan your own adventure, there are suggested 3 to 5 day, easy to hard, expedition itineraries.

    What more could you want? Buy the book and get on the Wye!

  2. leerhalley –

    Having used guidebooks authored by Mark in the past I knew the quality of his writing, research and attention to detail so this had to be my go to guidebook for the river Wye. It simply couldn’t be better.
    Last weekend our plans to paddle a certain section of the Wye were scuppered, for reasons too complicated to explain, so a quick flick through the guidebook gave a great alternative paddle which was undertaken exactly as detailed. Launch points and distances were spot on, as were landmarks along the way.
    The guidebook has given me and other members of my local club the confidence to lead sections of the Wye not previously paddled, an invaluable tool. Great job Mark, thank you for your efforts in promoting this wonderful river environment.

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