GUIDE TO THE AFON TEIFI
(Llanddewi Brevi to Lampeter)
NAME OF RIVER: Teifi.
WHERE IS IT?: Grid ref: SN600500 Postcode district: SA48 8xx (map centre), X: 260000m Y: 250000m, Lat: 52:07:50N (52.1305) Lon: 4:02:48W (-4.0467). Near Aberaeron, Cardigan Bay.
PUT-INS/ TAKE-OUTS: As in the previous comments, you can access and egress from many points. We joined it at Llanddewi Brevi ...came to find out later this is where they filmed "I'm the only gay in the village" in Little Britain! DONT take llandysulpaddlers) advice about access at some weird little place starting with M... we got sternly told all about page 21 of some code book by an extremely unfriendly man who owned the fishing rights to the land/river.For take-out... Park at the Co-Op in Lampeter and you can back paddle up a wee tributary to get out relatively easy... with loos and tea at your door!
There are a few egresses before Llandysul, but we paddled in flood water and it gets pretty hairy from Lampeter onwards.
APPROX LENGTH: 14K, but if you capsize at 13K... you might meet Rory (the nice chap from a riverside property who allowed us to use his phone) too!
TIME NEEDED: We took about 3 hrs with a few stops to enjoy the scenery and have lunch, with no stops, probably 2 hrs or less.
ACCESS HASSLES: Yes, as above... we ended up just outside of Llandewi Brevi, but had to run across a farm yard that seemed like no one was home (eep) to be honest, we found it extremely dificult to find access for easy touring stretches, not many people seemed to take an interest in canoeing (did I mention this was in a canoe, not kayak)... our capsize host was very sweet, but the planned take out point at the co-op, although probably not legal, seemed the easiest place for a family to get out.
Gareth Bryant, River Advisor - 'www.llandysul-paddlers.org.uk for full access info on the Teifi'.
WATER LEVEL INDICATORS: Well, we saw it in a bit of a flood, and thats pretty obvious to notice!
GRADING: Apparently a smooth grade 1 normally, but in a flood, a grade 2-3.
MAJOR HAZARDS/ FALLS: Flood water was great fun, brother up ahead in a kayak shouting back the hazards, us in a canoe with 2 kids. Main hazards were the trees, nature's slalom. 'twas a tree that capsized us. They line a lot of the river and dip their branches in, almost like a weeping willow, but these branches are much sturdier... at times we had a 2 foot window to paddle through. We encountered similar hazards in a number of spots, with some leaning right into the middle.
Notably, there was a flume like section on a wide turn that dropped about a foot and scraped the bottom, surely in lower levels, a safer path could be navigated... but this was excellent fun!
GENERAL DESCRIPTION: Sheep, winding, wandering, meandering path through fields and valleys, the first houses are near your get out at Lampeter.
At one point we encountered an incredible "herd" of arabian stallions which followed us all through their pasture as the river wound through it.
OTHER NOTES: We'd love to go back with no kids and a kayak and do the whole 71k to Cardigan Bay... Lobster from Porthgain that night (Just past Fishguard on the coast)...sorted.
The river below Llandysul has more whitewater.
CONTRIBUTED BY: Margaret and Billy, also Gareth Bryant.
