We decided to follow the River Camel in winter, and for this first part we chose a day in late January. A high pressure system has been stationary over this area for ten days so far. Rather than bright cold weather however, it is quiet, very grey and overcast with cold nights and raw days, but it hasn't rained for over a week!
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Rising near Davidstow, the Camel runs nearly south then bends north west to run into the sea at Padstow. It is about 30 miles long and with it's tributaries, drains a substantial area of north Cornwall.
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A Snipe flew up with its rasping call as Tony climbed up onto the bank to look across to the source. Not far away, on the highest point are the remains of tumuli and a large granite stone, possibly the remains of a late Neolithic Dolmen or Quoit with many obscure 'cup and ring' marks etched on the surface.
The first road crossing, just half a mile from the source, and the young river gushes out through a culvert.
The Camel flows southwards on the left of this picture which is taken from the causeway built for the North Cornwall Railway which ran from Launceston to Delabole and on to Wadebridge and Padstow. The whole length was completed in 1899 after twenty years of constructing various sections of the line. It eventually connected with the branches from Bodmin to Wadebridge and Wenford Bridge to Bodmin and was used both to carry freight such as Delabole slate and sea sand as well as holiday excursions - the tourist trade was valued even then.
Further along the causeway. The wind-sheered hawthorn bushes show what this bleak granite upland is like in winter.
Even a small railway like this had well constructed bridges under the causeways to allow access from one meadow to another.
The lanes begin to criss-cross the young river, now running steeply downhill, under the railway this time and almost at once, crossing the river which is again culverted under the road. at Trekeek.
The culvert at Trekeek.
A handsome Male Fern in the wet willow spinney by the river just below the culvert.
The valley bottom is very marshy.
The country round here feels quite remote and this lane ends just beyond Trekeek. A couple of years ago (before Covid) when looking for moth trapping sites in this very under-recorded area, we asked the lady at the farm here if we could set up the moth trap one evening in the summer. She refused at once, saying firmly 'There's nothing here'. We have never had a flat refusal before!
The road then took us away from the valley a little, passing though pastoral country before going down past the Arthurian Centre and round a couple of sharp bends and across the river at Slaughterbridge. Within the grounds at the Arthurian Centre are the remains of an ancient village and, by the river a large stone with partly-indecipherable inscriptions in both Latin and the ancient Ogam alphabet. This is thought to be 6th Century and is claimed to mark the site of the mythical battle between King Arthur and his nephew Mordred. Slaughterbridge is within an area from Dozmary Pool on Bodmin Moor to Tintagel on the coast to the north, all part of the 6th Century Arthurian legend.
The inscribed stone at Slaughterbridge.
Slaughterbridge. This was the first proper stone bridge we had seen so far as we made our way downstream.
We then followed the river for about a mile into Camelford where the best access is from the car park in the middle of this small town. In the past, people have said they have watched otters from the bridge here right in the town, early in the morning. You can just see the fish ladder beginning at the left-hand base of the weir and re-opening to the river on the left, just above the weir.
Leaving the A39 as it runs south out of Camelford, we took a lane through Valley Truckle to Fenteroon to cross the river once more. This stretch of the valley is narrower and wooded, with a public footpath going along the bank where a Grey Heron was stalking.
Stone steps lead from the lane at Fenteroon to the footpath along the river. A jay flitted off between the trees. Strangely, although there was a negligible crop of acorns last autumn, we have seen numerous jays this winter. A small side stream runs down beside the road to join the main river here, and it had a lot of dark green clumps of the Water or Willow Moss, Fontinalis antipyretica. It's name tells the story that the Lapps in northern Scandinavia use this dried moss to close the gaps in the wooden walls of their winter huts and it doesn't catch fire. It's a good story anyway!
Going on south for another couple of miles we came to another crossing where a fine big stone house at Trecarne is being extensively renovated.
The next crossing is at Gam. This picture shows the river on the right with the the meadows and woodlands of the old house of Hamatethy upstream.
Gam Bridge at Tuckingmill, near St Breward. We have many associations here. Kim our daughter bought her much-loved horse from the huntsman at St Breward. Gosh, that must have been over forty years ago!
On at least once of those annual bat count-outs I go along too, to run the moth trap in the gateway between the bridge and the cottage. It is a very good site, situated in mixed habitat of unspoilt countryside.
Opposite Tuckingmill, going down the valley, the slope of Fellover Brake is in the far centre of this picture. This bracken, gorse and stony moorland is the site for the increasingly rare Pearl-bordered Fritillary butterfly. There is a good footpath from Fellover along the valley through woodland and riverside to the next river crossing below the village of St Breward. Tony has found Otter spraint, sometimes old, sometime very fresh, at all the bridges and river access points we visited today.
This completes the first part of the Camel. We will resume our exploration in due course.
