Calstock to Weir Head and
Return
Map: Plymouth & Launceston Sheet 201: Lower Tamar Valley & Plymouth Explorer108.
Parking: Calstock Public Car Park (Free) (map ref: 437685).
River access: The public slipway is 50 yds. from car park. If you are quick, can load & unload right above the slip. Water access good from half tide up, then it gets real muddy.
Distance: about 7 Km each way (3-5 hours as you wish).
Hazards: Motor boats and low trees, submerged trees. The Weir. Mud at low tide.
You should aim to launch at Calstock about 2-3 hrs before high tide, best of all a spring tide; this will give you an easy run up with the pushing tide. Note the BBC tide page or easytide give tide times for Cotehele, which is a good guide. Best time of day is the early morning; you can’t beat a pre-dawn launch, drifting past the reed beds in the dark through the early mist listening to the dawn chorus.
I will not go into the minute detail, as I think discovery is half the fun. The first part of the journey to Morwellham (19thC. Copper Port Museum) will take about an hour.
On both banks are numerous industrial archaeology features, but few places to land.
On the way you will pass a curious old wooden boat, which we call the Pirate Ship owing to its windowed transom. We like to play a game with the kids that we sneak past the pirate ship so as not to wake the pirates. Funnily enough, on one trip, we passed the pirate ship at the same time as a large group of noisy canoe trippers. To our surprise, a fellow appeared on the deck of the boat, with a long grizzly beard and long hair, glaring at us all, just like a real pirate, gave the kids quite a thrill!
Morwellham (map ref: 447697) is a good place to stop any time of day. Boats are welcome to tie up at the steps just past the power station. You can use the picnic area, and the pub (serves good food and drink) and use the toilets. But they don’t like you to start wandering around the attractions, bit unfair on the paying punters. If out of hours, e.g. on a dawn patrol, we tend to pull up on one of the slips, and have a flask of coffee, stretch our legs, and explore the place (the missus likes visiting the pigs for some reason). One day we happened to visit on a Pirates weekend, it was kind of surreal sitting outside the old pub quaffing ale and surrounded by a bunch of heavily armed buccaneers. Worth noting the various flood levels on the wall, up to some 10 feet above the quay. By the time we leave Morwellham, it is approaching slack water, so we actually have to paddle the to Gunnislake.
The next stretch is probably the quietest and most beautiful on the whole river.
(View from Morwell rocks)
On the way you pass the vertical crags of Morwell Rocks, an impressive half gorge, often home to a noisy pair of breeding Peregrines.
You may well see the usual herons and kingfishers. There are many deer in the woods on the Devon bank.
Even this far up, you may encounter Old Salty, a large Bull Seal that patrols the Tamar. He is quite curious and announces his presence by a heavy snort, which makes you jump when you least expect it! There are also otters in the valley, so you may be lucky…
Approaching Gunnislake you will pass the large house called Netstakes, so called because this is where fishermen staked out the nets to dry (obvious really). This was the house the Tamar Fisheries bought and sold just to retain ownership of the bank. They own the entire bank on both sides, and so there are signs everywhere saying, “no canoe launching”. Just up from Netstakes is the island formed when the “manure canal” was dug in the 19th Century. This allowed the sailing barges to reach the quarries, brickworks and lime kilns above the weir. It was called the manure canal because barges also brought the ‘night soil’ from Plymouth to spread on the land. It is now blocked off. On the island is the Lock Keepers Cottage, (Oh how I would love to buy this place). In 2000, the floodwaters took over the ground floor of the cottage, and the owner had to be rescued by helicopter.
A little further up is the tidal weir (map ref: 437711) and the highest navigable point. If you caught a neap tide, you may have to hop a couple baby weirs to reach it. The main weir is ramped and about 8ft tall, not much of a stopper at the bottom, but quite a large pull back if there is plenty water flowing, so beware! On the Devon bank, just below the weir is a handy flight of steps with a sign saying no canoe landing. It is worth hanging around up here though, to have a break and let the water level fall. The small weirs can give you a small and friendly stopper to play in, and then of course you have an easy descent with the current back to Calstock. However, egress can get a bit muddy if you leave it too late!
My Tamar Bivouac Thread has more detail and photos of this part of the river.
More Access Info:
If you want to make the route longer you can launch at Cotehele (map ref: 423681), a private quay owned by the National Trust, and a pretty spot. A suitable donation in the money box would probably satisfy any officials there. Further down is Halton Quay (map ref: 414655), no slip, just a quay, popular with fishermen, and best around one hour from high tide, nice spot for sailing. Launch sites get a bit sparse from then on. On the Cornish side is Cargreen (map ref: 436625), but you have to pay the pub landlord who owns the car park, then of course Saltash public slipway (map ref: 433590), good parking and access at all tides, can get busy at times. If you want to make it a day trip, this is your best bet, haven’t done it myself, but then spending the day cruising between huge banks of mud doesn’t appeal! On the Devon side, you only have Weir Quay (near Bere Alston) (map ref: 434647) by the sailing club, good if you have a sailing rig, access from half tide up, parking can be tight. Bere Ferrers would be a nice launch (map ref: 460636), but is only accessible on the highest tide, and I cannot think of a good route that would make that useful. Unfortunately the whole Tavy basin is rather mud bound, and Lopwell Dam (map ref: 475650) is practical as a high tide picnic spot only.
Map: Plymouth & Launceston Sheet 201: Lower Tamar Valley & Plymouth Explorer108.
Parking: Calstock Public Car Park (Free) (map ref: 437685).
River access: The public slipway is 50 yds. from car park. If you are quick, can load & unload right above the slip. Water access good from half tide up, then it gets real muddy.
Distance: about 7 Km each way (3-5 hours as you wish).
Hazards: Motor boats and low trees, submerged trees. The Weir. Mud at low tide.
You should aim to launch at Calstock about 2-3 hrs before high tide, best of all a spring tide; this will give you an easy run up with the pushing tide. Note the BBC tide page or easytide give tide times for Cotehele, which is a good guide. Best time of day is the early morning; you can’t beat a pre-dawn launch, drifting past the reed beds in the dark through the early mist listening to the dawn chorus.
I will not go into the minute detail, as I think discovery is half the fun. The first part of the journey to Morwellham (19thC. Copper Port Museum) will take about an hour.
On both banks are numerous industrial archaeology features, but few places to land.
On the way you will pass a curious old wooden boat, which we call the Pirate Ship owing to its windowed transom. We like to play a game with the kids that we sneak past the pirate ship so as not to wake the pirates. Funnily enough, on one trip, we passed the pirate ship at the same time as a large group of noisy canoe trippers. To our surprise, a fellow appeared on the deck of the boat, with a long grizzly beard and long hair, glaring at us all, just like a real pirate, gave the kids quite a thrill!
Morwellham (map ref: 447697) is a good place to stop any time of day. Boats are welcome to tie up at the steps just past the power station. You can use the picnic area, and the pub (serves good food and drink) and use the toilets. But they don’t like you to start wandering around the attractions, bit unfair on the paying punters. If out of hours, e.g. on a dawn patrol, we tend to pull up on one of the slips, and have a flask of coffee, stretch our legs, and explore the place (the missus likes visiting the pigs for some reason). One day we happened to visit on a Pirates weekend, it was kind of surreal sitting outside the old pub quaffing ale and surrounded by a bunch of heavily armed buccaneers. Worth noting the various flood levels on the wall, up to some 10 feet above the quay. By the time we leave Morwellham, it is approaching slack water, so we actually have to paddle the to Gunnislake.
The next stretch is probably the quietest and most beautiful on the whole river.
(View from Morwell rocks)
On the way you pass the vertical crags of Morwell Rocks, an impressive half gorge, often home to a noisy pair of breeding Peregrines.
You may well see the usual herons and kingfishers. There are many deer in the woods on the Devon bank.
Even this far up, you may encounter Old Salty, a large Bull Seal that patrols the Tamar. He is quite curious and announces his presence by a heavy snort, which makes you jump when you least expect it! There are also otters in the valley, so you may be lucky…
Approaching Gunnislake you will pass the large house called Netstakes, so called because this is where fishermen staked out the nets to dry (obvious really). This was the house the Tamar Fisheries bought and sold just to retain ownership of the bank. They own the entire bank on both sides, and so there are signs everywhere saying, “no canoe launching”. Just up from Netstakes is the island formed when the “manure canal” was dug in the 19th Century. This allowed the sailing barges to reach the quarries, brickworks and lime kilns above the weir. It was called the manure canal because barges also brought the ‘night soil’ from Plymouth to spread on the land. It is now blocked off. On the island is the Lock Keepers Cottage, (Oh how I would love to buy this place). In 2000, the floodwaters took over the ground floor of the cottage, and the owner had to be rescued by helicopter.
A little further up is the tidal weir (map ref: 437711) and the highest navigable point. If you caught a neap tide, you may have to hop a couple baby weirs to reach it. The main weir is ramped and about 8ft tall, not much of a stopper at the bottom, but quite a large pull back if there is plenty water flowing, so beware! On the Devon bank, just below the weir is a handy flight of steps with a sign saying no canoe landing. It is worth hanging around up here though, to have a break and let the water level fall. The small weirs can give you a small and friendly stopper to play in, and then of course you have an easy descent with the current back to Calstock. However, egress can get a bit muddy if you leave it too late!
My Tamar Bivouac Thread has more detail and photos of this part of the river.
More Access Info:
If you want to make the route longer you can launch at Cotehele (map ref: 423681), a private quay owned by the National Trust, and a pretty spot. A suitable donation in the money box would probably satisfy any officials there. Further down is Halton Quay (map ref: 414655), no slip, just a quay, popular with fishermen, and best around one hour from high tide, nice spot for sailing. Launch sites get a bit sparse from then on. On the Cornish side is Cargreen (map ref: 436625), but you have to pay the pub landlord who owns the car park, then of course Saltash public slipway (map ref: 433590), good parking and access at all tides, can get busy at times. If you want to make it a day trip, this is your best bet, haven’t done it myself, but then spending the day cruising between huge banks of mud doesn’t appeal! On the Devon side, you only have Weir Quay (near Bere Alston) (map ref: 434647) by the sailing club, good if you have a sailing rig, access from half tide up, parking can be tight. Bere Ferrers would be a nice launch (map ref: 460636), but is only accessible on the highest tide, and I cannot think of a good route that would make that useful. Unfortunately the whole Tavy basin is rather mud bound, and Lopwell Dam (map ref: 475650) is practical as a high tide picnic spot only.
This review was first posted on our forum so if you have any comments or questions post them HERE