CONTENTS
- Date, Distance & Map of Route
- Weather
- The Talybont-on-Usk to Brecon kayak
- Logistics
- Dangers or Issues
- Kayaks Used
- Paddling the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal
- Summary
1. DATE, DISTANCE & MAP OF ROUTE
9 October 2021.
This was a 7 miles one way kayak.
2. WEATHER
It was a mostly cloudy but dry Autumn day with highs of about 17 Celsius and light winds of about 6mph from the South East.
3. THE TALYBONT-ON-USK TO BRECON KAYAK
We had the usual pre-launch photo at Talybont-on-Usk. Archie had unfortunately broken his neck in a mountain biking accidenta few months before so wasn’t yet able to paddle and was instead going to walk along the towpath.
We set off at 12:30pm on the 7 mile or so paddle at about midday on a fairly overcast but reasonably warm early October’s day.
We soon passed a barge coming the other way, the first of many barges that we would pass on the route. You just have to hug the side of the canal to allow the barge enough room to pass by.
With canal paddles like this, there is no current to speak of unlike on most rivers when the current still carries you along even when you are not paddling.
We were taking our time enjoying the scenery which is generally awesome on the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal. The canal cuts through some rich farmland with the backdrop of the Brecon Beacons usually rolling by slowly too.
Every so often we passed charming old canal side houses or cottages. I would love to live in a property overlooking water. Maybe someday!
When kayaking, hiking or cycling the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal, the main consideration is where you can park near to the canal since the canal is not overly endowed with locations where you can park up.
We passed by a bascule bridge which fortunately for us was up, allowing us to paddle underneath it.
The next bascule bridge we came to was unfortunately lowered, leaving only a few feet gap underneath it. Dai went ahead and squeezed underneath it in his kayak by adopting a foetal position and pressing himself as low into his kayak as he could.
Dai was confident that we could squeeze underneath the low bridge if we squeezed down low into our kayaks. I did not fully share his confidence!
I could not lose face by portaging my kayak around the lowered bridge so had to follow Dai’s example and squeeze underneath the bridge. I felt like a limbo dancer trying to press myself almost horizontal into the cockpit of the kayak.
Fortunately, almost all of the other bascule bridges that we encountered were raised.
We intermittently passed other kayakers on the route. I would not say that the canal was “busy”, there were a number of other people out paddling, mostly in inflatables but also a few hard shells and even a few Canadian canoes.
Just before the small village of Pencelli and about 2.5 miles along the 7 miles route we decided to stop for lunch on the canal side since it was “Cider O’Clock” already.
Having “re-fueled”, we set off again for the remaining 4.5 miles or so of the journey.
Just West of Pencelli, we came across another lowered bridge blocking our way. We did not fancy squeezing under this one so we decided to portage our kayaks around it.
Over the other side of the bride were a row of canal boats all moored up. There are a lot of boats on the canal, it’s lovely to see them. They are all shapes, sizes and colors.
We came across a family of swans, a cob, a pen and their 8 cygnets. I regretted not brining a bag of my swan/duck feed with me, I so wanted to feed them!
Another canal boat came towards us and we pulled over to the side to let it through. It appeared to be one which has been rented out and it went weaving down the canal as it passed us.
About 1.5 miles West of Pencelli, we came across a marina where a number of boats were moored up.
I’ve never tried driving a canal boat but it looks like fun. Mind you, I have enough trouble trying to steer my kayak sometimes!
We approached the Brynich Aqueduct where the canal is carried over the river Usk on a very impressive aqueduct. Brynich Aqueduct is an early nineteenth century stone aqueduct crossing the River Usk with four arches and three cutwaters.
The Brynich aqueduct is 73 metres (80 yards) long and was constructed to carry the Brecon and Abergavenny Canal over the Usk between 1797 and 1800. There was a “party boat” crossing the aqueduct the other way the same time as we were crossing, so it was a bit of a squeeze.
About a quarter of a mile after passing the Brynich Aquaeduct, we came to the Brynich lock. Like all of the locks on the canal, you obviously have to portage around them if you are kayaking.
The Brynich lock was the first on the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal to be restored after the canal fell into dereliction. It is about 2.25 miles away from Brecon canal basin.
While we were out on the bank portaging around the Brynich lock, we walked onto the adjacent road bridge have a look down over the River Usk which passes underneath.
Some of the River Usk can be kayaked if you have a Waterways Licence but only at certain times of the year and subject to conditions.
With less that a mile to go now, we started to see the first buildings of Brecon town roll past as we paddled along.
It was about 5pm when we paddled into the canal basin at Brecon, so the journey had taken us about 5 hours to paddle this 7 mile or so stretch from Talybont-on-Usk to Brecon. We had stopped for lunch for about 45 minutes, stopped at Brynich Lock for about 25 minutes and had generally taken our time enjoying the scenery.
The Brecon canal lock is a lovely place, with the Theatre building, access to the canal and a big car park (pay and display). It’s a great place to start or finish a kayak, hike or cycle along this section at the start of the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal.
We landed at some steps on wharf on the canal side just in front of the Brecon Theatre after a great paddle on the Monmouthshire & Brecon canal.
4. LOGISTICS
We had 2 cars with us so we left one car at either end of the kayak.
We decided to start the kayak at Talybont and kayak to Brecon. We therefore left my car at the car park next to the Theatre in Brecon.
At Talybont, we parked up in the car park at the Bike Hub which is only about 100m or so walk from the canal.
If you only had one vehicle then you could get bus 43 or X43 between Brecon and Talybont-on-Usk.
Alternatively, you could get a taxi from one of the taxi firms in Brecon.
5. DANGERS OR ISSUES
Canals are generally the safest waterways you can paddle due to the absence of tides, currents and waves. They are also usually quite sheltered from the wind.
All craft using the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, including canoes, must have a British Waterways Boat Licence, which is included in membership of Paddle UK or Paddle Cymru, or can be purchased from the Canal Trust.
Its is worth checking before you go paddling on the Canal Trust website that there are no stoppages on the section of canal that you are going to paddle.
6. KAYAKS USED
On this trip Dai and I used Pro Aqua inflatable kayaks.
The Pro Aqua kayaks are light and portable double skins inflatables with bladders encased inside of a fabric outer layer.
They used to be sold by Clas Ohlson but have been discontinued for a number of years.
7. PADDLING THE MONMOUTHSHIRE & BRECON CANAL
The navigable section of the canal runs for approximately 36 miles from Brecon to Five Locks, Cwmbran with 6 locks on it together with one long tunnel called the Ashford Tunnel which I have kayaked through on the section between Talybont and Llangattock.
The canal was originally constructed to transport coal, lime and agricultural products. It was also used to bring the raw iron ore up the canal from Newport to Llanfoist Wharf and from there on by tramroads to the iron works and returning with trams loaded with iron, the finished product.
8. SUMMARY
This was one of my favourite sections of the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal to paddle.
Brecon is a nice county town, not very big but it has a lot going on and is something of a regional centre. Due to the proximity of the Brecon Beacons, the Monmouthshire & Brecon Canal, the Wye Valley and other attractive Usk Valley towns, Brecon has ‘touristy’ feel to it, especially in the Summer.
I have uploaded to my video of this trip to my Youtube channel.