Upper Clydach River

Nearby Rivers: Swansea Area - Tawe, Neath, Afan and Ogmore

In big flood, this gives about one and a half kilometres of continually exciting, hard paddling: not to be missed. It is a brilliant paddle

Rhyd y Fro to Pontardawe

3 km grade (III to IV) to IV+; one VI and one weir

Take the A474 Pontardawe to Ammanford road. About three kilometres up the hill on the outskirts of Rhyd y Fro is a road going off left over the river. Access may be had here GR713058. An alternative is to make your way higher up the Afon Egel GR716075 for a few kilometres of fast grade II to III water.

At the access point it is best to get on below the barbed wire fence that is slung from the bridge. If the stream looks brown and angry you are in for a brilliant ride. Lower water and a side-shoot tunnel on the left downstream is an entertaining alternative to the main flow.

Some way on and a bridge crosses the stream. A little way below this is a major grade VI fall which is only feasible in big flood. "It is yet to be done - portage left", I wrote in my 1994 book (the second in the series). Rumours abound that it has now had a few descents and it probably has: even so it is an extremely dangerous undertaking

In spate, the one and a half kilometres below the fall down to Pontardawe is a grade IV+ masterblaster. It is effectively just one continual rapid. There is a box weir as you near the town which, although easy at medium floods, looks exceptionally dangerous in big water conditions. Paddlers out of their depth at these flows could go straight over - so beware!! - portage right. It is best to egress at GR719042 just above the tunnel in town as I understand that canalization and a new weir are now just below, so beware!