The Monnow Beats
Forming the border between England
and Wales for much of its length, the Monnow rises in the hills around
Hay Bluff, flowing for approximately 26 miles in a general southerly
direction before entering the Wye at Monmouth. Named in Welsh Myn-gwy
- literally
"by the Wye", it is the first major tributary of the
Wye and was historically known as "one of the very best trout
streams in south Britain" (The
Field 1904). To attempt to reverse the degradation brought about by a
lack of riparian management, historically undertaken in the normal
course of traditional farming practices, the upper reaches of the Monnow
and its tributaries, Olchon, Escley and Dore have recently benefited
from a £1.4m
project to improve the habitat for wild brown trout, of which there
is now an "ample
sufficiency" if not yet an abundance. The work was undertaken
by the River Monnow Project and won the Wild Trout Trust’s prestigious
conservation award for 2006. Grayling are also present in many of the
middle and lower reaches.
