A riverside walk along the Teign from Fingle Bridge

Yesterday we walked along a river on the western edge of Bodmin Moor. Today we walked along a river on the eastern edge of Dartmoor. Lunch in Chagford with friends, a 3 mile linear walk along the Teign from Fingle Bridge and then back to Chagford for a very pleasant early dinner at the Birdcage Pizzeria. Another good day.

Our route was along the northern bank of the River Teign, just below Castle Drogo.  Castle Drogo was the last castle to be built in England and its construction took from 1911 until it was finished in 1930. It was commissioned by Julius Drewe, who is better known as the founder of the Home and Colonial Stores (as an aside, I've just remembered that I had a Saturday bicycle delivery job at the H & C in Caerphilly for a while when I was 11. Nepotism, as my Aunty Phyll worked there). It has never been watertight and it is currently undergoing a 5-year conservation project to finally keep the water out. It looks odd at the moment as it's completely encased in a plastic shroud but, however it looks, it's not a place that features on my Favourites list.

Along this stretch of the river are a series of artificial weirs put in place by Drewe to form pools that allowed him to indulge his passion - salmon fishing.

Looking down on the river from the highest point of the walk.

It was cold, it was damp but there were a few canoeists enjoying the white water caused by the weirs.

And this was as far as time would allow us to go. If we'd thought about it we could have crossed by this bridge and walked back along the other side of the river.

We've done this walk before and there's always something new to be seen. But artworks were not what we expected. As part of Castle Drogo’s restoration project a set of installations in the form of modern photographs (by Mike Smallcombe) have been put up in called Teign Spirits. The concept behind them is to give a sense of the history of the Valley along with an insight into the Drewe family.  This one is a photo depicting the aftermath of the fire that destroyed the nearby Fingle Mill – the miller’s wife and children have just escaped the fire. The ruins of the Mill can still be seen near to Fingle Bridge on the way to Fingle Woods.

And this one illustrates the life and times of the charcoal maker, once a major industry in these parts.

Another installation shows Julius Drewe salmon fishing

This one is a photograph of a Venetian chandelier purchased by the Drewes whilst on their honeymoon.

The chandelier was photographed outside and its background merges in quite cleverly with its background in situ. I'm not sure it works for me but, overall, the installations gave some added interest to the walk.