It takes collaboration to heal a river
Read articles written by friends of the river Taw
The River Taw, Recovery and Partnership Working
Stephan Price
July 2026
For many members of the River Taw Fisheries and Conservation Association, the Taw is more than a river. It is a place of memories, friendships, sport, wildlife and stewardship. It is a river that has shaped communities for generations and continues to define much of the character of northern Devon.
Upstream with the Ashreigney & Riddlecombe Nature Recovery Group
Neil Spencer
June 2026
I was privileged to grow up in the New Forest and spent many wonderful summer days playing in the woodland streams, discovering what lived beneath up-turned stones, finding Bullheads in old, discarded bottles, watching Brook Lamprey wriggle among the gravel and catching small trout.
In search of the elusive Shad
Don Hearn
River Keeper and Committee Member of the BDAA
June 2026
In this article, Don Hearn, River Keeper and Committee Member of the Barnstaple & District Angling Association - B&DAA - describes work undertaken recently by club members as part of broader research relating to the elusive Shad that is underway on the Taw.
Catching the bug
By Matt Lane
May 2026
Matt Lane and his wife own the Fox & Hounds Hotel in Eggesford, and he has produced a really fascinating article on the entomology of his part of the river Taw. The hotel has access to nearly 4 miles of fishing on the Taw.
In praise of the Bray
By Ed Rands
May 2026
The picturesque River Bay is a small spate river in North Devon. It rises in the Exmoor National Park, close to the border with Somerset, from where it flows southwards towards South Molton before joining the River Mole. The Mole is, in turn, a tributary of the River Taw.
Echoes of the past
By Chris Whittingslow
April 2026
The contents of a report from a Parliamentary inquiry into salmon fishing in England and Wales undertaken in 1861 (yes, you read that right - 1861) still make fascinating reading today.
The language used may seem archaic to us now, but the report shows that many of the challenges that occupy our minds in the 2020s were present even then.
Custodians and fishermen in a changing world
By Gordon Murray
April 2026
From my experience, as the former Chair of the Taw Fishing Club for nearly ten years, the modern fly fishing enthusiast has metamorphosed into a very much more complicated creature. He (and, encouragingly, a few more ‘she’s’ ) is likely to also be part-ecologist, environmentalist, entomologist, river morphologist, bio-diversity practitioner… and goodness knows what else.
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