PERFECT weather for messing about in boats and getting away from it all.

The couple in this canoe were doing just that about 140 years ago.

They are boating on the river Wye at Monmouth.

Behind them is T. Fuller’s Boathouse and Landing.

This is where the public landing steps are now, upstream of the Wye Bridge.

Some of the old quayside warehouses can also be seen along the river bank and in the background the spire of St Mary’s Priory Church.

The photograph was taken in about 1880.