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WHERE IS IT?: North Wales, a tributary of the River Vyrnwy. It's near the A458 about 10 miles west of Welshpool.

PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: Start at Llanerfyl. Access to the river in Llanerfyl was on the left bank by a (downstream) road bridge (shopkeeper phoned the farmer for us to ask permission). Finish at Meifod on the River Vrynwy. Egress on the right bank at the road bridge.

APPROX LENGTH: 26 km.

TIME NEEDED: Three hours.

ACCESS HASSLES: The access appears pretty good in that area; Dave Proctor (WCA) is the contact.

WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: Needs heavy rain. It stays up for a week or so after substantial rain.

GRADING: Grade 1 - 2.

MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: Approx 1 metre high natural 'weir' at Castle mound just short of the River Vyrnwy confluence which can reach grade 3 in flood conditions. This is last rapid on the run as described below. Low branches.

GENERAL DESCRIPTION: We use open boats (mine a woodstrip to add to the excitement...); so aim for grade 1 -2! The Banwy was excellent continuous Grade 1 - 2 from Llanerfyl to the River Vyrnwy confluence; top section the best. 26 km in all in about three hours, egress (R bank at road bridge) at Meifod. There is a short section on the River Vyrnwy before reaching the get-out.

OTHER NOTES: Other rivers in the area which we will look at, at some point are the Tanat and Ceirog (Ceriog?); but can't offer info yet. Anybody have any? Not sure about access after Meifod, but combining the Banwy with the lower Vyrnwy would give a good long tour to the Severn (50km). Anyone done the Vyrnwy below Meifod? Or the Banwy ABOVE Llanerfyl..?

Paul Smith...(Dec 2004) 'We did a 3.5 KM section running parallel to the A458. Put on at the caravan site at GR SJ 084078, please ask for permission. Take out near the steam railway station, in Llanfair Caereinion, GR SJ 107068. We took 3 hours, but I was coaching and we had a few swimmers and managed to lose one wedding ring:(

When we did it, there were a few rocks out of the water, at the get in. I would suggest that you do it when all the rocks are covered. You can see most of the river from the road, so have a look before getting on. This section is Grade 2 with a gentle start to the river, followed by some shallow rapids (stay river left), bringing you close to the road. About a third of the way down is what looks like, a natural wier, with several steps, at the level that we did, it was easy to inspect from the water. Below this the river divides into, with trees and bushes in the middle, leaving two options, left or right, I would suggest left as that is where the main flow goes and is deeper. It will become clear when you are getting into Llanfair Caereinion, and you will soon go under the main road bridge, the egress is 400 metres below this on the left, near a footbridge. A good river for trainee level 3 coaches to do river leadership.'

CONTRIBUTED BY: Phil Watts, also Paul Smith.