History of paddling on Dartmoor

[Simon Westgarth]

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At this season's the River's Source - a white water gathering down at the River Dart Country Park, we're having all the usual coaching clinics, and river clean up, plus a day for the youth, a hog roast and a band for Saturday night. As part of the Saturday night entertainment, it's been requested that we make a presentation about the history of paddling on Dartmoor. So there is a lot of information out there that's for sure, tales of adventures and stories of first descents. So what I would like to do, is rather up as much info as possible, invite some contributors. Our sport has little in the way of recorded history, so perhaps it may be a challenge to find credible stuff, yet we must but try.

Please Contact Us or post on the River's Source Facebook page, with what you may or may not know. Soon please.

Entry to the Saturday night entertainment will be free, although if you buy this season's Dartmoor Mountain Rescue Tee, you might help us enjoy the event even more. Full details in early September at the River's Source.

Thank you in advance

Simon

[Pam Bell]

William Bliss wrote, in Rapid Rivers, 1935:
"...He could do it, as I have, down the West Dart from Two Bridges, but he may not be as happy in wading and scrambling down small streams... after the Blackabrook and the Cherry Brook had come in, I found enough water the rest of the way to Dartmeet. ...You will not forget, if you come down as I did in late May... There were pools, but they were short, and gave little time for rest, and I was in and out of my canoe a dozen times and soaked to the skin long before ever I got out of the close woods and into the opener water above the Bridge. ...As for Holne Chase, I came down and through safely, but very wet and a little bruised, and the easier water below Holne was a relief. It was almost evening before I came to where, a little above Buckfast Abbey, a little stream came in on the right and, as it seemed a good place to stop, drew my canoe up on to the bank, and went in to the Abbey grounds and the Monastery".

[justin-g]

Simon - as I made this request I'm happy to help collate and pessatate any info - images/ video you get. I'm a whizz on either power point or pessie.... Plus if I'm 'helping' I can get a pass out from the kids and wife.

[Jon Wood]

Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch wrote to William Bliss in 1933:

'I was used to plan an adventure down the Torridge, but am too old to think of it now. A hair-raising trip I promise you. Stream swift and snags at every bend. It is recommended to the survivor to walk upstream afterwards and count his mercies.'

[Adrian Cooper]

pessatate or pessie

Out of curiosity, what do these two words mean? I'm guessing they are 'modern'.

[slugwash]

In his book Under Sail Through Red Devon: Being the Log of the Voyage of 'Sandpiper' Raymond Cattell tries to paddle his sailing canoe up the Dart to the Moor sometime in the 1920/30s. He gets somewhere past Staverton before laying his boat up in a field for the Winter and trying again in the Spring. (If I remember rightly he actually ends up walking onto the Moor).

So not technically canoeing on Dartmoor but he is on the Lower and the book's well worth a read anyway. I might have a flick through it in the bath this evening when I get back from sea kayaking :-)

HTH (not on Facebook)

[boater rich]

My father inlaw has a tale of some paddlers in the 1960's or early 1970`s doing the upper in canvas boats! From memory it finished with the boats going in a bin completely trashed... I` ll try and get more info when he returns from a sailing holiday.

[justin-g]

pessatate or pessie

Out of curiosity, what do these two words mean? I'm guessing they are 'modern'.

Pressie is a more dynamic presentation tool - online - check it out (power point is old hat). I made up the other word.

[John Saunders]

pessatate or pessie

Out of curiosity, what do these two words mean? I'm guessing they are 'modern'.

Pressie is a more dynamic presentation tool - online - check it out (power point is old hat). I made up the other word.

Have a look at http://prezi.com/learn/

[Adrian Cooper]

Thanks John, and Justin. I learned something new. (Including how precision in language is an aid to internet searching)

[pete thorn]

My first attempt at the Upper was in 1973, with Randall Williams and Miles Hulme, when we were all instructors at the Outward Bound School (now RDCP). It ended in failure when I got a vertical pin and had the homemade fibreglass missile break up around me. It was later repaired and used again. My first successful descent was in 1975, when I joined Clive Waghorn and others from the Fleet Air Arm. Paddling a home made C1 I had a swim and several rolls but completed the run. Hooked ever since.
Perhaps time for a heritage paddle on this special weekend?

[Simon Westgarth]

My first attempt at the Upper was in 1973, with Randall Williams and Miles Hulme, when we were all instructors at the Outward Bound School (now RDCP). It ended in failure when I got a vertical pin and had the homemade fibreglass missile break up around me. It was later repaired and used again. My first successful descent was in 1975, when I joined Clive Waghorn and others from the Fleet Air Arm. Paddling a home made C1 I had a swim and several rolls but completed the run. Hooked ever since.
Perhaps time for a heritage paddle on this special weekend?

Any pictures Pete?

[Simon Westgarth]

Fresh in from Nick McDonald

"Just reading your request about paddling on Dartmoor. was probably one of the earliest to start crashing down some off the ditches down there, ran the Plym, Erme, Bovey, Webburn in 89 . East & west okement & tavy cleave in 90. the Bovey trip was published a few years later in canoeist (march 93). Paddled most of them with Chris Hipgrave, Andy Love & Paul Riley, a few old names from the rodeo days.
I have loads of old prints that could be scanned & if you would like me to say a few words no problem."

Our Saturday night at the Rivers Source is beginning to shape up quite nicely....more to come soon.

[DaveBland]

I have a couple of pics, paddling the Plym from around 1990 if you want them.

[chris s sladden]

Did the Webbern sometime in the early 80's with Dave Reid. Dave went onto be in the Navy for a while so Simon Dawson will probably remember him- in fact I'm not sure Dave didn't get the info on this tree strewn ditch(even by my standards) from Simon- something I still owe him for!

Happy days!


Cheers



Chris

[Simon]

Hi Chris,

You means these pics - probably mid 80s

http://www.ukriversguidebook.co.uk/rivers/england/south-west/photos/river-webburn

Yes that was earlier in the 80's when the Webburn was NOT a tree strewn ditch, only about 2-3 portages and it made a great trip. Sadly a few storms in later years destroyed the pleasure. The guy in the white cag, Greg Preston, went home after one trip on the moor to tell his family what he had been doing, and his uncle regaled him with stories about how he had been a Royal Marine Commando in the war, and had done a trip down the upper Dart for their "Cockleshell Hero" type training.

Back in the 70s and 80s there was a strong kayaking group based at the Royal Navy Engineering College at Manadon, Plymouth. Four years in Plymouth, full Navy Officer salary, a massive engineering workshop to build GRP canoes and trailers etc, and a budget for encouraging outdoor pursuits. Ideal conditions to develop kayaking. That group, with various hangers on and friends did a lot of the early exploration of Dartmoor, and indeed also early trip to the Swiss/Austrian Alps out near Landeck in the 70s. But it was only when small plastic boats were available from the mid 80s that real Dartmoor exploration opened up on the more obscure parts of the moor, by which time there were a lot of other boaters around doing some good stuff.

Talking about smaller boats, On my first run down the West Dart I was told off by Clive Waghorn, one of these older and bolder boaters, for daring to use a Dancer, which was inappropriate for the conditions being too short and too low a volume. Funny how attitudes change.

For the record, if it counts, I can recall descents of:

the Webburn with a Navy group about 85.

West Dart (from Two Bridges) with a Navy group about 85. (The bit from Hexworthy to Dartmeet is almost as good as anything on the Upper, and Hexworthy used to be our standard start point for an Upper run until access issues and spawning became a problem.)

East Dart (solo) 86

Erme (with Steve England) 2nd Oct 1987

Plym (Solo, but low water) some time in 88 or early 89.

Whether these are first descents I don't really know or care, I enjoyed them at the time and that's what counts. But I am happy to mention them here to fill in the early history of the area.

Simon