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The River Dart - A Journey by Nick Shepherd
As you watch the lower ferries criss-cross between Dartmouth and Kingswear, it can be difficult to imagine that this beautiful and influential river started its life just 46 miles away as two tiny streams amongst the windswept granite tors of Dartmoor.

During its journey, the river displays many moods and changes character from a torrent of bubbling water cascading over moorland boulders to a gentle meandering river quietly passing through green meadows.

The marvellous attraction of the River Dart is not only its variety and beauty but its accessibility. All you need for the upper stretches are a pair of walking boots and for the lower stretc hes a boat or preferably a kayak! If you haven’t got the latter we are very fortunate in having access to other modes of transport such as ferries, open topped buses and a steam railway.

The aim of this article is to demonstrate pictorially some of the diversity you will see over the Dart’s course and to provide some interesting background information. I propose starting from the two sources of the river and gradually working south to its mouth. I hope you will enjoy the adventure

THE TWO SOURCES OF THE DART

The East Dart and West Dart, together with a number of smaller tributaries, effectively act as a mechanism to drain a vast area of upland Dartmoor where annual rainfall can approach 100 inc hes. It is interesting to note that the East Dart rises south of Cranmere Pool , only 500m from the source of the River Taw which drains north to Barnstaple.

The West Dart rises in the bogs to the north of Beardown Tors and at that stage is only separated from the East Dart by less than a mile. They then separate to nearly four miles apart before eventually meeting at Dartmeet. EAST DART From its source the East Dart river flows past Bronze age stone hut circles, the remains of field walls and enclosures and of funeral cairns. These features date from around 1500BC when the climate was both drier and warmer than it is today.

The power of the East Dart like many moorland rivers was often “tapped” by running leats (c hannelled waterways) from the river to waterwheels whic h were the main motive power for mining and other industries. The hamlet of Postbridge grew up from the river crossing over the East Dart which was used by post-boys on horseback to take mail from Exeter via Chagford to Truro. The famous clapper bridge can still be seen today and has spanned the river for than 500 years. The clappers are the huge horizontal slabs of stone placed on and spanning the piers.

It did occur to me that the phrase “going like the clappers” may have originated from this but it would appear that it has more to do with bell ringing! There were no wheeled vehicles on the moor until the late eighteenth century when the “modern” road bridge was built as part of the turnpike road from Moretonhampstead to Tavistock.

Postbridge is a popular place for visitors and has a large National Park information centre within its car park. Just two miles down stream is another fine clapper bridge at Bellever. It is less complete than the one at THE RIVER DART - A journey by Nick Shepherd Post Bridge The Judge’s Chair Bellever 53 Postbridge as the central span is now missing. However, it is a wonderful quiet place to have a picnic and wander amongst the extensive coniferous forests.

The view from Bellever Tor is also spectacular, particularly on a clear day.

Continue reading "By the Dart" April 2009 edition...
 
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