Fish!

Last month, on the River Lyd an environmental disaster was averted. A leaky cooling system at the Ambrosia Creamery at Lifton spilt a serious amount of oil into the river. The Lyd is an important tributary of the River Tamar, which is a spawning ground for Salmon, Sea Trout and Brown Trout. The Environment Agency were alerted to the incident by a member of the public who noticed an oily sheen on the water and a strong odour in the area. A swift response involving booms and skimmers to remove the oil was successful and an agency spokesman has said there have been no fish deaths or lasting damage to the environment. Well done to them for their efforts.

With this story in mind, we went searching for boxes (and fish) up the Lyd on our most recent walk.

Starting at the car park behind the Dartmoor Inn, and taking the true left bank of the river upstream to Tigers Marsh and at Lyd Head turning North to Corn Ridge. Our search for fish was unsuccessful. It is far easier spotting trout in a leat than Salmon in a river.

Our search for boxes was far more productive, with 16 stamps collected.

The sun was high and hot as we surveyed the crowd free view from Branscombes Loaf. It has been too long since whoisthechallenger had been out boxing, and it felt good to feel Dartmoor turf beneath the feet again. We let gravity assist us on the way home, and followed the Rattlebrook Peat Railway from the famous 'points', where the trains would have turned, past Great Nodden and back to the car.