Boating on the Tavistock Canal Local History
By Roderick Martin
IN the early 1900s there was interest in making use of the disused industrial waterway, the Tavistock Canal, for boating purposes and three remarkable photographs, made into postcards, show a skiff and two canoes on the canal in April 1909. Two of the postcards were signed ‘JHH’ and sent to Norman Quick, an assistant schoolmaster, who lodged at 13 Grove Park Road, South Tottenham, London. There are some interesting hand-written messages on the back including a note that: ‘The Western Daily Mercury have asked me to write an article on the Canal (paid job). I went through the 13/4 mile rocky tunnel in this boat, right down to Morwellham’. This article appeared in the 8th May 1909 edition of the newspaper.
BOATING AT TAVISTOCK
The beauties of Dartmoor, the charm of Endsleigh, its attractions for the fisherman, not to say anything of the golf links on Whitchurch Downs, have, nevertheless up to the present, left the residents of Tavistock with a reluctant longing for the fascinating pastime of boating.
The swift River Tavy is not navigable until one gets to Lopwell but the canal which is fed by this river can yet be a feature of the neighbourhood. Years ago before the town had its supplies from Plymouth by rail, the goods were bought up the Tamar as far as Morwellham, drawn up a steep inclined mountain tramway to the canal level, and then taken through a long tunnel 13/4 miles in length, and through the solid rock to Crebor Mine, thence up to the wharf at Tavistock. Many residents can remember those ‘good old days’, and love to speak of their experiences.
can really travel by water from the Post-Office, Tavistock to the Antipodes, with the exception of just this few yards of inclined tramway leading down to the level of the River Tamar. The writer has just heard of two young
26 So it will be seen that one
Plymothians from Keyham Dockyard who came up to Morwellham, brought their canoes up to the canal level, and thence up the beautiful Crowndale Valley to the smug little town. At Crowndale, one may
“
..smug little town”
remind the reader, the great seadog, Drake, first saw the light.
narrow and shallow, can, as shown by the experiences of the past week, still yield very much pleasure to the devotees of the oar and paddle. The canal begins just near the
The canal although
West Devon Club, and by the time it reaches the tennis ground, its proportions are such that craft can pass each other with ordinary care.
Through the extreme courtesy of the steward to the Duke of Bedford, I believe any resident applying for permission to launch a boat on the canal will obtain it. Possibly, if the enthusiasm continues, a club for the town may be started. If this were accomplished, the banks might be deprived of their reeds, and the waterway be made wider, so that some sculling races might be arranged. Tavistock is mainly a residential centre, and every attraction that can be added to it should receive the support of all
“special feature for novelty boaters ..tunnel”
who are jealous for the welfare of the town. Our special feature to
novelty-boaters will be our tunnel, of course. Last week the writer, with three friends, went right through it, and very much was charmed thereby. It is not, of course, on the same scale or as beautiful as the ‘Grotto of Hans’ on the borders of Belgium and Austria (a bit of questionable geography here), which, I believe takes about three hours to get through. The effects
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