Along the Teign River from Dunsford to Chagford

A slightly different walk for us today as we followed the River Teign from Dunsford to Chagford - no open moors and no wide-raging panoramas. Ten miles of relatively easy walking for five friends and a dog! A couple of showers but nothing worth putting our wet weather gear on for. A stop half-way for lunch at the Fingle Bridge Inn and refreshments at the end in Chagford. A great day and a route to be repeated.

Here's our route. A linear walk this time, made possible by a little car shuttling. If you study the contours of the map you'll see that most of the route was in a pretty steep gorge. If only I had the geological knowledge to explain the reasons for this landscape.

Along side a river you get....river views. This was just at the beginning looking up from Steps Bridge, our 'formal' starting point.

All along our route there was ample evidence (weirs, leats) that the water of the river has been used to provide motive power for many years. This is the remains of the central hub of one of the waterwheels at Fingle Mill.

Himalayan Balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) was in evidence in patches along our route. An imported thug of a plant but with a very pretty flower and explosive seeds pods.

Another river scene, this one entitled 'The Dipper that flew away just as I pressed the shutter button'. The Teign was not this placid for most of the stretches we followed.

In the distance, under the giant plastic bag, is Castle Drogo. Owned by the National Trust, it is undergoing extensive renovation and stabilisation. Castle Drogo was built in the early 1900s and is a memorial to what too much money and too little sense can get you. Like many others, I think that the Trust's money (and some of it comes from me) could be far better spent elsewhere.

Now this is something you do not see very often nowadays - an outside swimming pool. This is the Chagford Lido - long may it continue but it will have to do so without my patronage. Cold water? No thanks!

In the distance, our goal - Chagford with its church tower to the left. In the background looms Dartmoor.