This walk: 2012-6-14. Trenchford Reservoir, Tottiford Reservoir, Kennick Reservoir, footbridges, piers, double-ended shelter, grey willow, gate hanger stones, foxgloves, black slug, common coots, mallard ducks, commemorative plaque.
Walk details below - Information about the route etc.
Link to Google Satellite view of the area
A walk involving three of the eight Dartmoor reservoirs - as explained below, Fernworthy Reservoir is also involved in these reservoirs.
Modified from Wikipedia .....
| Point |
OS Grid Ref |
Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tottiford Reservoir | SX810832 | 1861, expanded 1865 |
| 2 | Kennick Reservoir | SX803843 | 1884 |
| 3 | Burrator Reservoir | SX554686 | 1898, expanded 1929 |
| 4 | Venford Reservoir | SX685709 | 1907 |
| 5 | Trenchford Reservoir | SX805824 | 1907 |
| 6 | Fernworthy Reservoir | SX665840 | 1942 |
| 7 | Avon Dam Reservoir | SX677653 | 1957 |
| 8 | Meldon Reservoir | SX560912 | 1972 |
From: George Thurlow (1993 & 2001), Thurlow's Dartmoor Companion, Peninsula Press, Newton Abbot, page 253 .....
Tottiford Reservoir, 1861, embankment raised 1866/1867, 31 acres, 103 million gallons
Kennick Reservoir, 1884, 52 acres, 195 million gallons
Trenchford Reservoir, 1907, 30 acres, 171 million gallons
Notice at the entrance.
This photograph was taken at the end of the walk in heavy rain .....
As previous photo ..... it says that Trenchford Reservoir operates in conjunction with Tottiford and Fernworthy reservoirs; also that Fernworthy provides the water via the Trenchford stream. After treatment, the water goes to Torbay and surrounding areas.
First view of Trenchford reservoir. Of the three reservoirs of Trenchford, Tottiford & Kennick, Trenchford was the last to be built, being completed in 1907. Twenty years later, these reservoirs were not enough for the supply needed in Torbay so Fernworthy Reservoir was built, nine miles away, with completion in 1942, to support them. Total outflow is around 7 million gallons per day. As an aside, the Weymouth Pine can be seen around the reservoir, with long narrow cones and leaves in clusters of five. Source: J. Hayward (1991, reprinted 2009), Dartmoor 365, Curlew Publications, page 136. It covers about 30 acres and holds 200 million gallons of water (see commemorative plaque at the bottom of this page)
Trenchford.
Trenchford.
Trenchford, footbridge at the north-west end .....
As previous photograph.
As previous photograph.
Looking down Trenchford from the middle of the footbridge.
Zoomed view from previous photograph.
Looking left .....
As previous photo.
Another view to record the rhododendrons.
Looks like a Bibionid fly, most likely Bibio pomonae, the Heather Fly.
As previous view - it kept moving!
We thought some areas at the edge of the water looked like mangrove swamp!
Left or right?
SX 8049 8281, a double-ended shelter, is this "Mardon"? The GPS unit was giving a +/- 9 metre accuracy in under the trees .....
An overview of the shed.
Believed Grey Willow, Salix cinerea, most other willows have a point on the leaves, and this appears to be a female tree, judging by the catkins .....
Close-up of a female catkin, developing into seeds .
Trenchford.
Footbridge at the north-west end of Trenchford Reservoir.
What seemed to be an old wall covered with trees.
Trenchford.
Pier in Trenchford Reservoir, at SX 8064 8240, near "Tottiford House" on the map ..... almost around to the car park .....
Trenchford.
Trenchford.
Footbridge at SX 809 827 .....
..... with Trenchford Reservoir on the right and Tottiford Reservoir on the left .....
Gate somewhere along the way - I think it was off to one side of the bridge, because we then left the water for the next part of the walk along the road and then through woods.
A clearing ahead with a lot of foxgloves .....
Foxgloves.
There appears to be two gate hanger stones at SX 80692 83095 ..... this is a tall stone with a modern iron bracket on the left side as well as the hanger hole in the face towards the camera .....
Gate hanger stone - on the other side of the gateway, this one is a short stone and may have been the basal stone in the gate-hanging arrangement.
A wide path with strand lines after heavy rain.
The light at the end of the tunnel .....
Zoomed view - it needed a tripod for sharpness because it was a little dark in the wood.
From Wikipedia - black slug: the black slug, also known as black arion, European black slug, or large black slug, scientific name Arion ater, is a species of large land slug, a terrestrial slug in the family Arionidae, the roundback slugs, this was about 10 cm in length .....
Close-up.
The rootball of a fallen tree. On the way down, it snapped another fir tree like a matchstick - it can be seen sticking up from behind the centre of the rootball. To snap off a living fir tree of this size takes a lot of force.
SX 8070 8360, sign to the three reservoirs, Trenchford, Tottiford & Kennick, with Tottiford in the background.
Tottiford Reservoir: the oldest reservoir on Dartmoor, completed 1861. Within eight years, the embankment dam had to heightened. It now holds 100 million gallons of water and covers 31 acres. Source: J. Hayward (1991, reprinted 2009), Dartmoor 365, Curlew Publications, page 137.
A family of common coots, there were two adults and three chicks .....
As previous photograph.
Water running down the slope into Tottiford Reservoir from Kennick Reservoir.
Zoomed view.
Looking into Kennick Reservoir .....
The pier in Kennick Reservoir at its south end: constructed in the 1880's to supplement Tottiford Reservoir. This reservoir covers about 50 acres and holds about 200 million gallons of water. This reservoir is reserved for anglers. Source: J. Hayward (1991, reprinted 2009), Dartmoor 365, Curlew Publications, page 114.
Kennick
Zoomed view.
Footbridge at SX 8106 8330, we went halfway across for the following photos and then continued south-east around the edge of Tottiford reservoir ......
Looking right when going out on the bridge across Tottiford
Zoomed view .....
Looking left, still its Tottiford
Zoomed view.
More Tottiford
Looking back at the pier at SX 806 824 near the southern end of Trenchford Resrvoir
A pair of mallard ducks .....
Mallard drake .....
Ditto.
Car park at SX 8109 8264, at the south end of the dam between Trenchford and Tottiford reservoirs .....
The notice in more detail.
SX 8070 8243 - commemorative plaque seen just before crossing the dam at the south end of Trenchford Reservoir
Water flowing down to the treatment works out of Trenchford Reservoir.....
Zoomed view ....
Weir and take-off point for water going to the treatment works, with the southern end pier of Trenchford in the background.
Closer view of bushes under water.
A fine tree with the water works in the background .....
Zoomed view of the water works.
Looking out along the pier ..... please excuse the hand shielding the lens from the driving rain .....
As previous photograph.
A small building along the road when returning to the car park.
MAP: Red = GPS satellite track of the walk.
© Crown copyright and database rights 2012 Ordnance
Survey
Licence number 100047373
Also, Copyright © 2005, Memory-Map Europe, with permission.
This walk was accessed by leaving the A38 (Plymouth-Exeter) road at the Drum Bridges (Trago Mills) exit for Bovey Tracey, and driving north, passing Bovey Tracey on the A382. Turn right at Slade Cross and follow this single track lane past Mixing Barn Farm to a left turn. Take this turn and find the car park entrance (see the "Welcome to Trenchford Reservoir" notice) a little way ahead on the right, just past a small road on the right. Park at the yellow cross / P symbol on the map.
Statistics
Distance - 7.3 km / 4.5 miles.
All photographs on this web site are copyright ©2007-2016 Keith Ryan.