Matt saw a kayaker running alongside the river (the Taff) by his house in Trefforest today and went to see what was happening. He found a crew of young lads (fresher students maybe?) had been kayaking down and that one of them was stuck in the weir, still in his boat but rolling and tiring quickly. None of them had a throw line. Matt ran back to his house to fetch his and executed a rescue. Well done Matt.
The weir in question is the one Chris Sladden describes as lethal in his book, the Welsh Rivers. http://www.canoewales.com. Quote: "There are five weirs on this section and two are best portaged, with one being a definite portage. The first, about a kilometre from the start [Pontypridd] should be obvious from the river and is a certain portage. This was always a fairly nasty weir with a potentially holding stopper. In 1996 and 1997, I watched the local authority effectively re-building the weir - an interesting spectacle - and I had great hopes that it would be made safe. Instead they turned it from a dangerous weir into a totally lethal weir! Beware and portage." Seems like the paddlers involved hadn't done their homework, nor were they properly equipped. Discuss.
