River Tavy

River Tavy
River Tavy
	The Tavy above Tavistock, on the moor
Location
Country	England
County	Devon
Physical characteristics
Mouth	River Tamar
• location	Bickleigh
• coordinates	50°28′N 4°09′W / 50.467°N 4.150°W
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Collybrooke; River Walkham;
• right	River Burn; River Wallabrooke; River Lumburn;

The Tavy (/ˈteɪvi/) is a river on Dartmoor, Devon, England. The name derives from the Brythonic root "Tam", once thought to mean 'dark' but now generally understood to mean 'to flow'.^[1] It has given its name to the town of Tavistock and the villages of Mary Tavy and Peter Tavy.

It is a tributary of the River Tamar and has as its own tributaries: Collybrooke, River Burn, River Wallabrooke, River Lumburn, and River Walkham. At Tavistock it feeds a canal running to Morwellham Quay.

Its mouth is crossed by the Tavy Bridge which carries the Tamar Valley railway line.

River Tavy routemap

Legend

					Dartmoor
					Mary Tavy Power Station
					Cholwell Brook
					Collybrooke
					Langsford Rd
					River Burn
					Stannary Bridge
					Vigo Bridge
					A386
					A386 West Bridge
					Tavistock Canal
					River Lumburn
					River Walkham
					Denham Bridge
					Lopwell Dam
					Limit of navigation
					Blaxton Creek
					Bere Ferrers
					Tamar Valley Line
					River Tamar

The river is navigable inland as far as Lopwell, where a weir marks the normal tidal limit, about a 9-mile (14 km) journey from North Corner Quay at Devonport.^[2] River transport was an important feature of the local farming, mining, tourism and forestry economies.^[3]^[4]

The Queen's Harbour Master for Plymouth^[5] is responsible for managing navigation on the River Tavy up to the normal tidal limit.^[6]

References

Armstrong, Robin (1985) The Painted Stream, London: Dent ISBN 0-460-04702-7

^ Owen, Hywel Wyn (1998). University of Wales Press. Cardiff, United Kingdom: University of Wales Press. p. 103. ISBN 0708314589.
^ Ordnance Survey mapping
^ SC871 Rivers Tamar, Lynher and Tavy (Map). Admiralty. 2000. D inset.
^ "Welcome to Lopwell" (PDF). Plymouth City Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 June 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
^ Queen's Harbour Master Plymouth
^ The Dockyard Port of Plymouth Order 1999