Cann Quarry Canal Weir
Cann Quarry Canal Weir
A route with river, forest, tramways, leats, wheel pits and an Iron Age fort. Between five and six miles of interest and delight.
On the map the route is roughly triangular, going up the Plym, along a tributary and on to the camp, and then back down the Lee Moor China Clay Tramway.
Start by going under the railway and along by the leat, walking on the tramway. The leat was established in 1828 as a canal with butty boats to carry slate from Cann Quarry. By 1832, this was replaced by a tramway; the canal became a leat to supply Marsh Mills. Note the stone sleepers with pairs of holes for the bolts holding the chairs on which the rails rested. On you left you will soon note overgrown mounds of slate rubble.
As the brick-built railway viaduct looms above you, notice the stone pillars less than half its height. When the railway was built in the late 1850s, these were the bases for wooden trestles carrying the track, replaced a few decades later by the present viaduct. Similar ones may be seen by the side of the main line to London on the way to Ivybridge.
You will now follow the narrow riverbank path to look at the weir, but before you do this, take a look at the ruins in front of you. You will notice two wheel pits side-by-side. On the left was an undershot wheel, driven by water emerging from a tunnel and then proceeding by pipes to supply the leat. As you look at the weir, you will see the entrance to this tunnel at the near end. In the right-hand wheel pit are the remains of the axle of an overshot wheel.
Climb up from the end of the weir and go over a stile. You now walk the line of a small leat that comes from a tributary of the Plym. It would have had a wooden launder behind you to drive the overshot wheel. Follow the line of the leat to a path up the tributary. When it would cross, jink right and immediately left, to go along an easy woodland track parallel above the stream for a good kilometre.
This track hits a well maintained forest road. Follow it uphill, then take a narrow path left. This crosses the Lee Moor Tramway, built in the early 1850s. That used to carry china clay in wagons drawn by little steam engines in this near-horizontal section. One of the two so used is now in the Railway Museum at Buckfastleigh. Soon you are at the top of Cann Woods and can go along until a left turn takes you to a spot by the Iron Age camp with picnic tables. Sadly, too many dogs were being allowed to chase sheep and cattle grazing on the camp and the gate into it is firmly padlocked. You can look but may not touch!
Retrace your steps, but stay on the main track. You come to a major split structure where the tramway crossed above your level. Go up to this level on your left. Here was the start of a long incline at angle of 1:11, all the way down to Plym Bridge. Follow it; but be aware that sections in cuttings are muddy. Most folk climb out and follow above the cutting. When you cross a main track, do not stay by the tramway as it goes into a deep cutting. Instead, turn left and take the first right. You soon will look down into the cutting, glad you are not in it. A final steep descent takes you back to the starting point, passing under the last section of the tramway incline.
Note that both this tramway and the earlier Cann Quarry one had the 4ft 6” in ‘Dartmoor’ gauge, so this one simply joined the other. The final section was horse drawn, and having been there when the railway was built, had priority over a steam engine right up until 1961.
If you like walking and would like to do so in good company, try the Plymouth Ramblers with their extensive walking programme, using cars to access the starts. The Dartmoor Rambling Club uses public transport, midweek only. For information email ronaldfwsmith@gmail.com or call 01752 674230.
Ron Smith