Plenty of July and now on into August has been pretty hot for us here in the south west of England, as a result I’ve avoided walking on occasions and instead headed for a swim. This one is from mid July and previous wild swim spots of Shilley Pool, Sherrah Pool, Spitchwick and Cadover Bridge have been well used by others, so instead I had a drive and found another good spot near to Buckland Bridge just downstream from Spitchwick. There were a few other people here and there are some car parking spots both on the road along the bottom and as it rises up towards Buckland in the Moor itself. They fill up quickly and we were lucky to get the last spot. The water was cool, especially compared to the air temperature but its perfect once you are in. The boys both loved it, and we will definitely be doing this more and more in the hot weather.
This is the lane to Buckland Bridge, its very narrow, with the odd pull off spot for parking. The obvious common sense is needed, don’t block a passing place nor a driveway, and if you can’t find a place to park, look elsewhere, the Dart is a long river.Buckland BridgeThe Webburn comes under Buckland Bridge and empties here on the left which made that section very cold indeed. However it was warm above and my youngest was straight in to cool off. The deeper water runs pretty much down the centre of this part of the riverMy eldest took his time getting in. In the end we just went over a and splashed him in the shallows so he had no choice but to join usWet fun in the River DartLovely light with plenty of trees providing shade. Spitchwick is in that directionAnd a glorious scene the other way, the Dart carries on that way, looping around Holne Chase and then under Holne Bridge
I’ve been to East Dart Waterfall today and its not too bad up there, yes its not a torrent but similar to what I’ve seen the last 5 or 6 years. I guess if it carries on being so dry then we may have a problem down here
And of course there hadn’t been much rain in the weeks preceeding it. They were planning to turn the old leats into canals to fill the reservoirs from the rivers, but the rivers dried up too quickly. And there were of course considerable leaks from dodgy pipework in Plymouth etc. Happily it rained before there was much damage to the Dartmoor landscape. It did finally put an end to the cry for more Dartmoor reservoirs, given than the ones already there – so near to the water sources – dried out so quickly.
We’ve had rain this morning already down here in Plymouth, forecast to rain a bit more today/tomorrow as well. So the really hot weather might be going
treksandtors 
Looks quite low. Reminds me of 1976 when the headwaters dried up.
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I’ve been to East Dart Waterfall today and its not too bad up there, yes its not a torrent but similar to what I’ve seen the last 5 or 6 years. I guess if it carries on being so dry then we may have a problem down here
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It was just puddles by Postbridge in 76
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Its difficult to believe really but I heard that 1976 certainly stayed hot for longer which would explain the low river levels
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And of course there hadn’t been much rain in the weeks preceeding it. They were planning to turn the old leats into canals to fill the reservoirs from the rivers, but the rivers dried up too quickly. And there were of course considerable leaks from dodgy pipework in Plymouth etc. Happily it rained before there was much damage to the Dartmoor landscape. It did finally put an end to the cry for more Dartmoor reservoirs, given than the ones already there – so near to the water sources – dried out so quickly.
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Looks very refreshing. I have only managed a couple of paddles. Think the weather due to break today..up North anyway.
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We’ve had rain this morning already down here in Plymouth, forecast to rain a bit more today/tomorrow as well. So the really hot weather might be going
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Can’t beat a wild swim in hot weather, looks a great spot
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Turned out to be pretty good, if a little cold where the other river joined in. Still it was baking hot so much needed dip
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That looks idyllic! What a great spot for a swim.
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