River Taw
River Taw rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor. It reaches the Bristol Channel 45 miles away on the north coast of Devon at a joint estuary mouth which it shares with the River Torridge. The stream runs through the late Poet Laureate Ted Hughes' adopted home village of North Tawton. Slowly picking up headwaters from rivers such as the Mole that rise on Devon's other upland area, Exmoor, the river increases in size and becomes a recreational trout river before becoming tidal at Newbridge, approximately 12 miles from the sea. This journey passes through rural Devon, the river being surrounded by pasture and wooded valley sides.
The Taw only passes through one urban centre of any size, Barnstaple. The Long Bridge here, originally medieval, currently affords the lowest bridging point of the Taw. Work, however, has started on a long-awaited 'downstream bridge', part of Barnstaple Western Bypass, which is due to open in 2007. Seawards of Barnstaple, the river's journey is blocked by the large dune complex of Braunton Burrows, hence its late diversion south-westward and shared entry with the Torridge across Zulu Bar sandbanks and out into Barnstaple (or Bideford) Bay.
The second lowest port on the Taw is Fremington. Between the mid-nineteenth and mid-twentieth centuries its tidal quay was the busiest port (tonnage) between Bristol and Plymouth, mainly as it was a handy landing point for Welsh coal from across the Bristol Channel which could be distributed around the south-west peninsula by train (track finally closed 1987). The lowest port (or at least jetty) can be found at Yelland. The site of an oil-fired power station (closed 1984, although only sporadically active post-1973; demolished 1989), it still is used as a tanker-distribution centre for commercial and domestic petrol and diesel deliveries. The oils storage tanks here are filled from coastal lighters.
The flooding of the Taw in August 1983 and the destruction of the sand dune causeway to Crow Island at the southern tip of Braunton Burrows was the inspiration for Ted Hughes' poem to commemorate the birth of Prince William, son of Prince Charles.
The valley of the Taw is quite steep. Both the Tarka Line and the A377 road follow the river.
The Southern Railway built a series of 4-6-2 steam locomotives names after various places within the west country. The locomotive that honours the Taw Valley is preserved in its rebuilt form on the Severn Valley Railway carrying its post-nationalisation number 34027.