DOWN BY THE RIVER

I haven't dared go down to the river while the rain has been torrential, but this afternoon I decided to risk it. Not cascading over the bank but running very high and fast. I always panic as Snippet trots along the bank and skips over stones mid-stream. One false move and he'd be washed away. He's not a water dog and has never swum. He prefers to tear the bank up with his teeth searching for rodents....not something we encourage obviously!

This is the Teign, which comes out at Teignmouth and has different pronunciations within the settlements along its way to the sea. Around here, it's known as the 'Teen', At Teignmouth it becomes 'Tin'mouth and in Drewsteignton is Drews'tane'ton. Here we are pretty close to its source and this section is the North Teign. It is possible than Teign comes from the Celtic word for water: Ta. 

A sense of speed here!

This is one of the two clapper bridges over this section of the Teign, the second of which is at the top of this post; there is a third close by over Wallabrook, a stream which joins the Teign at this point. Clapper comes from the Anglo Saxon 'cleaca' which meant bridging the stepping stones. The top one is a more classic example but I love this little one where the river narrows and the water gushes. 

The sky today was battleship grey; the kind of light that means having to turn the lights on when you get up and not turning them off all day. The camera has unfortunately lightened it, which I didn't realise until I downloaded them. These from yesterday are better in that respect:

Trigger's field is the one in the middle so you can see how exposed it is. The shelter belt of trees beyond proved very useful today protecting me from the biting North Easterly wind as I walked down to the river which you can see snaking into the distance. I met the ponies yesterday too and numbers 10 and 3 were very sweet together. They must be at least four months apart but are the same size!

I'm afraid you will be seeing a lot of our little Nuthatch over the coming months as I can't resist him.....or her. Not quite sure on that front.

And finally, a couple of Snippet; one looking like no breed I've ever seen and the other in the 70 mile an hour winds on Sunday. Until next time...........have a good rest of the week.