Herefordshire, England

Ross Rowing Club

Launch — Ross Rowing Club's own river access ramp, rebuilt with a new canoe ramp alongside the club's steps in 2024, replacing the original 1963 construction.

Parking — Day parking is booked online on the club's camping-area car park or grass borders (not the club car park itself), £6 per 24 hours and non-transferable between vehicles. Herefordshire Council also operates 826 pay-and-display spaces across Ross-on-Wye's town centre car parks, with 30 minutes free.

Access — A £3.50 fee applies to launch canoes, kayaks, paddleboards and similar craft from the ramp, unless overnight camping has been booked; a Public Right of Way crosses the campsite en route to the river. Paddlers arriving by river are asked to exit at the downstream steps, carry craft up the gravel stepped slope, and store them on the lawn by the Blue Steel Container. Access to the water from the club side is via steep steps.

Season — The Ross Regatta is held over the August Bank Holiday weekend each year and can affect this stretch; it was cancelled in 2024 owing to exceptionally low river levels. The Environment Agency also publishes a River Wye events calendar for other organised events based at or passing the club.

Regulations — The Environment Agency is the navigation authority for the Wye between Hay Town Bridge and Bigsweir Bridge, under the Wye Navigation Order 2002 and the Environment Agency (River Wye Navigation) Byelaws 2003; no waterways licence is required for unpowered craft on this reach. The public right of navigation does not give an absolute right of access to the river bank, so permission is needed to launch or land other than at accepted public sites. The reach is part of the River Wye Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation, and Environment Agency guidance asks paddlers not to land on gravel shoals and islands between 1 April and 31 July, and to take care on spawning gravels from October to April.

Ross Rowing Club's river access ramp is a fee-based slipway on the left bank of the River Wye at The Ropewalk, on the long curve the river makes between the A40 road bridge and Wilton Bridge below Ross-on-Wye.

This stretch of the Wye

This reach is graded Grade I (easy) between Hereford and Ross, continuing at Grade I-II on to Monmouth. About half a mile downstream, Wilton Bridge, a Grade I listed six-span red sandstone bridge built between 1597 and 1599, crosses the river, with the remains of Wilton Castle on the bank before it.

The whole reach lies within the River Wye Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Area of Conservation (Afon Gwy), which protects Atlantic salmon, sea, brook and river lamprey, twaite shad, bullhead, otter and white-clawed crayfish, alongside beds of water-crowfoot.

A separate landing with no permission required sits at steps on the left bank about 100 metres below the Hope and Anchor pub, roughly half a mile upstream of Wilton Bridge. Downstream, the next formal landing is at Kerne Bridge, with a picnic site and car park, about five and three-quarter miles below Ross.

Nearby

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Broadmeadow Caravan Park

Touring caravan, motorhome and campervan park open to the general public; does not accept tents.

Website

Ginger Nut Cafe

Cafe on Ross-on-Wye's High Street.

Conditions to check

Boat traffic

Environment Agency canoe guidance for the Wye identifies this stretch, near Hereford, Ross and Monmouth, as a location where canoeists may encounter rowing boats training on the river.

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Limited exit

Environment Agency canoe guidance directs craft through the middle arch and the channel to the right of the island at Wilton Bridge, about half a mile downstream, and states that landing or launching there is not permitted.

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Shallow or rocky

The Environment Agency notes obstructions and overhanging trees downstream of Ross at Turners Boat, Kerne Bridge and Backney Bridge, adding that further blockages can form after high water.

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Other

The Wye is a fast-flooding river. The Environment Agency's gauge at Ross-on-Wye (station 4029) has a normal range of 0.25m to 3.20m, recorded a high of 5.07m in February 2020, and puts property flooding as possible above 4.20m.

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