Taw Access over Weirs Project - 2007-2015 - a successful partnership between the River Taw Fisheries Association, the Westcountry Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency.

The project had its beginnings in March 2007 when Alan Sullivan, an independent consultant commissioned by RTFA, completed his "Overview of Proposed Supplementary Atlantic Salmon Hatchery and Preliminary Investigation of Fish Passage on the River Taw". This led the RTFA Committee to pursue the access over weirs route. The project gained momentum in November 2007 following completion of the "Overview to Fish Passage on the River Taw System" by Greg Armstrong, the EA National Fish Pass Officer, which provided weir by weir recommendations.

The following list shows each of the 12 weirs with its year of completion:

Head Weir (M) - 2010
Clapworthy (B) - 2011
Irishman's Wall (UT) - 2011
Skaigh (UT) - 2011
Colleton (UT) - 2013
Sticklepath (UT) - 2013
North Wyke (UT) - 2013
North Molton (M) - 2014
Rashleigh (UT) - 2014
Filleigh (B) - 2014
Eggesford (UT) - 2015
North Tawton (UT) - 2015

(UT = Upper Taw; M = Mole; B = Bray)

The project has involved a huge amount of work and we must thank the Westcountry Rivers Trust and the Environment Agency for everything they have done on our behalf and also all those RTFA members who contributed to the two fundraisings which provided the seed capital for accessing the rest of the funding. Each weir has presented its own challenges which led to this phrase being coined – “There is no such thing as an easy weir; just a weir with a different degree of difficulty”. Fish access at all 12 weirs on the main system has been improved.

We must now let nature and the salmon and sea trout life cycle take their course. We are very hopeful that the improvement to fish passage along with all the habitat work being done on the river will have a significant beneficial effect on our river and its fish stocks.

The images below show the before and after condition of the 12 weirs in date order.

Head Weir

 

Head Weir Before                                    Head Weir After

Clapworthy Weir

 

Clapworthy Weir Before                           Clapworthy Weir After

Irishman's Wall

 

Irishman's Wall Before                             Irishman's Wall After

Skaigh Weir

Skaigh Weir After

Colleton Weir

            

Colleton Weir before                                    Colleton Weir after

Sticklepath Weir

                         

Sticklepath Weir Before                               Sticklepath Weir After

North Wyke Weir

 

North Wyke Weir Before                          North Wyke Weir After

North Molton Weir

 

North Molton Weir Before                        North Molton Weir After

Rashleigh Weir

 

Rashleigh Weir Before                             Rashleigh Weir After

Filleigh Weir

Filleigh Weir Before                                 Filleigh Weir After

Eggesford Weir

 

Eggesford Weir Before                             Eggesford Weir After

North Tawton Weir

 

North Tawton Weir Before                        North Tawton Weir After