Introduction
The Wye Rapids Hotel stood in a spectacular position overlooking the River Wye at Symonds Yat West, Herefordshire. Although the hotel has now disappeared, replaced by the Wye Rapids Cottages development, it was for many decades an important part of the character of Symonds Yat.
My connection with the hotel is personal. My grandparents honeymooned at Symonds Yat in the 1920s, having arrived there by train at Symonds Yat Station. My parents honeymooned at the Wye Rapids Hotel in 1960, arriving by car, just after the station closed. I first remember visiting the Wye Rapids Hotel myself in the mid-1960s and we used to visit a couple of times a year for holidays. I have fond memories of exploring, climbing, swimming and caving from the age of 5 onwards.
When I was old enough to drive, I visited again, this time with a girlfriend. We camped at Symonds Yat East and cooked in the forest. On 4th August 1979 we saw my beloved Hereford United beat York City 3-1 at Edgar Street.
I have tried to piece together the history of this wonderful hotel - when it was built, who owned and ran it, how it developed over the years and, ultimately, what happened to it.
What began as an attempt to put dates to a handful of old photographs has turned into a much more interesting investigation. Contemporary newspaper advertisements and reports have allowed me to trace the hotel's beginnings in 1930, when Wye Rapids Hotel Ltd. was formed and staff were being recruited within a matter of months.
By August 1930 the hotel was definitely trading. There are also details relating to its early managers, licensing, financing and later owners, as well as photographs showing how the building and its grounds changed over the decades.
The later history is less straightforward. The hotel closed at the end of 1988, and if my memory serves me correctly, it stood standing for a few years before it was sold to a property developer. The Wye Rapids Cottages were build in 1995 and remain there today.
In the chronological timeline it is mentioned whether something is established by contemporary documentary evidence, or whether it is inferred from several pieces of evidence. Where something remains uncertain, I have left it as such. The aim is not to create a neat story where the evidence doesn't support one, but to reconstruct as accurately as possible what actually happened to the Wye Rapids Hotel.
If anyone can add to this research, or correct any errors, I would welcome any contributions.
