Autumn Walk @ Symonds Yat

Symonds Yat. Gloucestershire/Herefordshire. From Coventry: M42, M5 to J8,
M50 to Ross then A40 Whitchurch. Journey Time : 90 minutes.

Weather was kind to us again although the sunshine levels were lower than recent Trips. We parked at the Yat Rock, on reflection perhaps parking should have been at the bottom near the river so that you don’t have an enormous ascent at the end of your walk.

Incidentally just before parking up we came via the B4234 through Walford and viewed the Goodrich Castle (ruin) but nevertheless grand.

We had Paul’s Nephew with us today as he boasted that he could beat us “Old Men” at the pace of the walk (Yeah Right! – ready for a challenge then!).

Yat Rock has many facilities including toilets Shop and information Centre. We
started a descent from this very picturesque park with fantastic views and Peregrine Falcons, down towards the river. A little tricky in places. We Met on the Way a couple who hailed from Coventry and of course Paul did what he does best and that’s his talk for England, party trick.

Actually this turned out quite useful as we learned that Wild Boar are present in
the forest bits and that they had recently been spotted, and of course that all important evasive action ( which is to move slowly out of the way – no sudden moves ).

We then followed the river, where rather cool activities (I thought) were taking place – Canoeing, Kyaking over rapids. Umm. We walked for about 1 mile to Biblins Bridge. Built by the Forestry Commission, easy to walk across assuming you don’t have a teenager at the other end shaking the structure. Eventually when the thing had calmed down, I was able to start shooting photos again.

A quick group discussion decided on aiming for the Severn Sisters Rock and then on to Arthur’s Cave. Ascending up and Through Lords Wood, we took in the beautiful sights and smells and the bleating Nephew (Jake).

To be fair Jake did very well considering that his shoe wear was not particularly suitable, I recommend at this point good non pinching hiking boots with 2 layers of sock, and make sure your toenails are cut as these will get a hammering as you descend.

Severn Sisters rock was – well you’ll see from the pictures. We had Paul nearly having a stroke telling us to keep back from the edge. Paul wanted us to carry on to Arthur’s cave, But as time was getting on and the cave rather elusive (I was told) it was time to consider a route back to the rock where we believe the car park closes at 5pm i.e. a gate is locked.

A pretty path was found down to the river with rocky crags mixed with trees and finally a path which said no access to river, so Paul got his “you can’t read a map” Gob on!

Well we were just lucky, it did. Although when we finally arrived at the ferry point to get us back over, no ferryman. Our team got me to search around for an alternative passage. Well I had visions of bribing a canoeist to give us 4 trips (3 people and a dog).

Luckily the ferry man was in the pub and didn’t finish till 11pm. Phew! The final ascent Up to the rock was a killer, but all in all it was an exhilarating day, and the “Old Men” Beat the teenager to the top!

Well done to Jake he did very well under the circumstances.

Thanks for listening Jon.

To Symonds Yat Photos

To Symonds Yat Slide Show