The wonderful Tamar Valley featured in an episode of BBC Countryfile on the 14 January. The highlight of the episode, which focussed entirely on this special place, was the new 87-mile coast to coast walking route, the Tamara Coast to Coast Way!

William Darwall, the Tamara Scheme Manager who headed up the Tamara Way project, met with the Countryfile team, including Charlotte Smith the presenter (pictured) under the viaduct at Calstock to chat about the new route. Other members of the team, namely Gary Lewis and Sarah Richardson, who were also the first to walk the brand-new 7-day walking route, met with the film crew to tell their side of the story. Countryfile then caught up with Esme Lawton, who won a competition to design the source of the River Tamar Marker Stone and Patrick Morgan from Imagine Stone, who carved it out of slate. The stone marks the source of the River Tamar at Woolley Moor, which walkers pass along the route. They also chatted to Myles Pinkney, who was the Tamara Scheme’s first apprentice in a £200k training programme for the Valley. Myles is working as a Assistant Warden Apprentice at the National Trust’s Cotehele Estate.

William Darwall explains why the new route was created:

“We wanted to promote what’s going on in the Tamar Valley. People locally might not be aware of what’s on their doorstep. We are trying to drum up support for people to look after habitats, but if they don’t know about them then that won’t happen. The Tamar Valley has so much to offer for those locally and upcountry. We have great networks of public rights of way. We are lucky to have these networks and we need to make the most of them.”

The Tamara Coast to Coast Way broadly follows the River Tamar, the historic boundary between Devon and Cornwall from sea to source, before continuing on to the North coast. It begins at Cremyll, overlooking Plymouth Sound and finishes at Marsland Mouth near Morwenstow. Linking the two coasts has also created a new 387-mile circular walking route around the border of Cornwall, Kylgh Kernow, Cornish for Circuit of Cornwall. Find out more about the Tamara Coast to Coast Way and other walks in the Valley on the Tamar Valley National Landscape walking pages here.

The Tamara Coast to Coast Way, is a Tamara Landscape Partnership Scheme project. The scheme is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund and others including Cornwall Council and Devon County Council and aims to create a brighter future for the Tamar Valley and its communities.

If you haven’t seen it already, you can catch the Countryfile episode here.