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
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