The idea for the expedition was born in the White Hart public house over several pints of fine ale with Cenarth based coracle maker Ronnie Davies whom I visited around Easter in 1998 to research the Teifi coracle.

Upon my return to Lincoln I set about building a coracle based on the Teifi but with a greater carrying capacity in order to transport myself and my kit the 70 or so miles along the length of what my Easter visit revealed to be a rough and dangerous river. The framework was of the typical riven willow with a woven hazel gunwale, the seat or thwart being shaped from a cleft willow log and yew offcuts from my bow making. No store bought timber, nails etc. were used in its construction. Copper wire was however used to attach the bitumen coated canvas skin to the gunwale.

On Saturday September 12th 1998 I returned to Cenarth in the company of Kev, the only friend of mine insane enough to even contemplate accompanying me on such a perilous journey.Before the epic adventure began, Ronnie and Denzil Davies gave us valuable advice on paddling techniques and Ronnie lent us a paddle for the journey. The river was in a dangerously swollen state due to two weeks of heavy rain. I found myself questioning my sanity and was left in no doubt as to the seriousness of the undertaking.

As a relative novice I found that paddling a coracle on the Teifi was nothing like my previous paddling on Scottish Lochs and my local rivers. During the following week I found the Teifi to be not at all short of truly trouser filling experiences. This was exacerbated by the recent rains turning the upper reaches of the Teifi into a swirling madmans paradise of rocks, whirlpools, flooded fields, submerged fences and partially submerged overhanging trees that I could swear must somehow be a mandatory requirement on the many sharp bends in the river. Many of these trees reached far out into the river, sometimes going all the way across. Frantic paddling was often necessary to hoik myself clear of the rapidly approaching danger.

On the second day, one of these trees fetched me out after I swept round a blind bend and led to a proper soaking and a three hour epic trying to retrieve kit trapped on a branch in the middle of the torrent downstream. This led to greater caution at bends and Kev remaining on terra firma until the end of the week when he accompanied me in one of Ronnies coracles for the last stretch from Cenarth to Cardigan Bay.

The voyage that saw me set out from Pontrhydfendigaid to the sea at Cardigan Bay was one of the most exhilarating experiences of my life. This was made more so by the fact that my craft had been built from hedgerow materials by my own hands and had come out in one piece at the end. I lost count of the number of buzzards, red kites, kingfishers, dippers and other wildlife I saw along the way. However for much of the journey the concentration needed was such that I dare not take my eyes of the river for more than a few seconds so little attention could be paid to flora and fauna and it made for a tiring week.

The various sets of falls were not too much of a problem as usually Ronnie, Denzil or Kev were on the bank to tell me where to get out and the sound of the falls advertised their presence well in advance. The stretches of river through Cors Caron, (Tregaron Bog) nature reserve and from Cilgerran to the sea involved the most paddling and least help from the river. As a lover of solitude and wild places, the flooded wilderness of Cors Caron will always remain etched on my mind and heart. At times it was difficult knowing where the river was and it was quite an experience being able to paddle round the ends of partially submerged foot bridges!

Perhaps the best aspect of the journey was the kindness and generosity shown to us by local people, Ronnie especially, whose combined help in many forms made both the expedition and the grand total of £1321 raised possible. I thank them all.

Richard J.Taylor