River Transport on the Tamar
The River Tamar was historically an important means of transport in the Tamar Valley. It is tidal up to Weir Head just north of Morwellham Quay. A canal, The Tamar Manure Navigation Canal was completed by 1801 to bypass the weir. This was part of a scheme devised in 1794 to build a canal from North Tamerton Bridge (not far from the source of the Tamar) to Morwellham a distance of just over 30 miles. There was also to be a cut to Launceston. (In 1774 John Edyvean conceived the idea of building a canal from Bude, but it wasn't until 1819 that the Bude Harbour and Canal Company was formed and a canal was built as far south as Launceston in 1825). The war with France put an end to the scheme and only the section between Morwellham and Weir Head was completed. Manure, building sand, bricks, lime and granite were hauled up from Morwellham by teams of men pulling ropes attached to the masts of vessels. When the Gunnislake gasworks opened, coal was brought up through the canal. By 1905 a third of the canal traffic was coal, the rest was granite and bricks.
After the First World War, the cost of maintaining the canal outstripped the income and notices were put up at Morwellham and at the locks warning people not to use the canal. Soon after the Second World War the company went into liquidation. The remains of the canal and lock basin can still be seen, though the gas works has long since disappeared.
Calstock had a quay in Saxon times. By the mid 19th century Calstock had three quarters of a mile of quays. The roads were very bad and the river provided cheap and easy transport. There were also quays at Okel Tor to serve the mine, at Netstakes, at Slimeford by the Manganese works and one downstream at Cotehele. Limestone, sea sand, manure and coal were brought up the river in barges. There were seventeen mines between Callington and Calstock and also quarries, brickworks, a paper mill and farms and everything was brought down to the river by horse and cart which was expensive and slow. This was eventually remedied with the building of the East Cornwall Mineral Railway.
The Tamar was used not only for transporting goods, but people as well. A paddle steamer service was introduced in the 1820s to take people from Callington, Gunnislake, Calstock and the surrounding areas to the markets in Plymouth. Before that time, people had to rely on watermen to row them up and down the river, waiting at the quays between one and two o'clock in the morning for the early morning tides. The valley was a big market garden area and Plymouth was the main market until the advent of the railway. Excursions began around 1825. The Plymouth, Devonport & Falmouth Steam Packet Company's vessel Sir Francis Drake was advertised as being 'open for engagement by private parties'. She made regular excursions to Calstock and Cotehele with entertainment provided by a military band. By the late 1840s there was a fleet of paddle steamers bringing people up from Plymouth and in 1856 Queen Victoria and her family made the trip up river to Morwellham on their way to Endsleigh.
Up to a thousand people a day were brought up to Calstock and the Ashburton Hotel (now Danescombe House) was completed in 1859 to cater for visitors. Townspeople also provided teas but not everyone welcomed the day trippers. There were few facilities for visitors and many frequented the ale houses and drunkenness was common. This, combined with the lack of sanitation, meant it became a very unpleasant place to live, but the visitors appeared not to be troubled by smell and filth. The First World War saw the beginning of the end for paddle steamer excursions. One by one the boats were called away for war duties. There was a small revival in the 1920s, but the car, motor coach and then the motor launch came on the scene and the last paddle steamer, The Empress, was scrapped in the 1930s.
Apart from ferries up and down the river, there were also numerous ferries operating between the Devon and Cornish banks. A few boats were built on the Tamar. One notable 'yard' was opposite Calstock adjacent to the viaduct. The yard was firstly owned by Edward Brooming who built and repaired barges, but its heyday was from about 1880 until the First World War when the yard was taken over by James Goss . James Goss had previously worked for local entrepreneur Emanuel Crocker at his yard at Netstakes Quay. It was said he could barely read or write but most of the timber for the boats was selected by Goss himself from the Cotehele estate and marked up by eye with a scratch of his thumbnail.
Cotehele Quay is now owned by the National Trust and there is a maritime museum with lots of information on the Tamar River traffic.
Morwellham Quay, the largest copper port in England, has been brought back to life again and visitors can now relive the past.
Calstock is nowadays much quieter - and cleaner - than in Victorian times, but excursions still come up from Plymouth in the summer.
After the First World War, the cost of maintaining the canal outstripped the income and notices were put up at Morwellham and at the locks warning people not to use the canal. Soon after the Second World War the company went into liquidation. The remains of the canal and lock basin can still be seen, though the gas works has long since disappeared.
Calstock had a quay in Saxon times. By the mid 19th century Calstock had three quarters of a mile of quays. The roads were very bad and the river provided cheap and easy transport. There were also quays at Okel Tor to serve the mine, at Netstakes, at Slimeford by the Manganese works and one downstream at Cotehele. Limestone, sea sand, manure and coal were brought up the river in barges. There were seventeen mines between Callington and Calstock and also quarries, brickworks, a paper mill and farms and everything was brought down to the river by horse and cart which was expensive and slow. This was eventually remedied with the building of the East Cornwall Mineral Railway.
The Tamar was used not only for transporting goods, but people as well. A paddle steamer service was introduced in the 1820s to take people from Callington, Gunnislake, Calstock and the surrounding areas to the markets in Plymouth. Before that time, people had to rely on watermen to row them up and down the river, waiting at the quays between one and two o'clock in the morning for the early morning tides. The valley was a big market garden area and Plymouth was the main market until the advent of the railway. Excursions began around 1825. The Plymouth, Devonport & Falmouth Steam Packet Company's vessel Sir Francis Drake was advertised as being 'open for engagement by private parties'. She made regular excursions to Calstock and Cotehele with entertainment provided by a military band. By the late 1840s there was a fleet of paddle steamers bringing people up from Plymouth and in 1856 Queen Victoria and her family made the trip up river to Morwellham on their way to Endsleigh.
Up to a thousand people a day were brought up to Calstock and the Ashburton Hotel (now Danescombe House) was completed in 1859 to cater for visitors. Townspeople also provided teas but not everyone welcomed the day trippers. There were few facilities for visitors and many frequented the ale houses and drunkenness was common. This, combined with the lack of sanitation, meant it became a very unpleasant place to live, but the visitors appeared not to be troubled by smell and filth. The First World War saw the beginning of the end for paddle steamer excursions. One by one the boats were called away for war duties. There was a small revival in the 1920s, but the car, motor coach and then the motor launch came on the scene and the last paddle steamer, The Empress, was scrapped in the 1930s.
Apart from ferries up and down the river, there were also numerous ferries operating between the Devon and Cornish banks. A few boats were built on the Tamar. One notable 'yard' was opposite Calstock adjacent to the viaduct. The yard was firstly owned by Edward Brooming who built and repaired barges, but its heyday was from about 1880 until the First World War when the yard was taken over by James Goss . James Goss had previously worked for local entrepreneur Emanuel Crocker at his yard at Netstakes Quay. It was said he could barely read or write but most of the timber for the boats was selected by Goss himself from the Cotehele estate and marked up by eye with a scratch of his thumbnail.
Cotehele Quay is now owned by the National Trust and there is a maritime museum with lots of information on the Tamar River traffic.
Morwellham Quay, the largest copper port in England, has been brought back to life again and visitors can now relive the past.
Calstock is nowadays much quieter - and cleaner - than in Victorian times, but excursions still come up from Plymouth in the summer.
