SIBLYBACK LAKE CIRCULAR

Occasionally our walks take us beyond the Tamar Valley and today’s walk around the 140 acre Siblyback Lake near was one of these. In the 20th century three reservoirs were constructed on Moor with Siblyback Lake in the late 1960s being the first; this was followed by Crowdy Reservoir in the 1970’s and finally Colliford Lake in the 1980’s.

It was a beautiful morning, warm and sunny with hardly a cloud in the sky as we set off behind Netti in a clockwise direction around the lake along a narrow, level path. Here the cyclists travel anti- clockwise so we could always see them coming and take evasive action. It is thanks to the South West Lakes Trust that we are able to walk here today, but it wasn’t always so. It was as recently as April 2000 that all the inland waters of the South West of England were set up as a charity, to manage and promote public access, recreation, and conservation. Our get-together is just one in around 2 million visits which are made to their sites each year. Visitors can enjoy a wide range of activities beside, or on the water; such as cycling, canoeing, sailing, windsurfing, orienteering, climbing and trout fishing to name just a few, but our group of 24 would just be walking today.

This year is flying by and now we are already into mid-September the brackens are beginning to change colour and some horse chestnut trees were looking quite brown as we drove along this morning. As for the Cornish hedges, the farmers have already begun flailing so there is not much colour to see except greenish/brown. Where these hedges are yet to be cut, a few insignificant pink flowers are still hanging on such as the invasive pink, Himalayan Balsam and the grubby-pink Hemp Agrimony with its leaves similar to the Cannabis plant, hence its botanical name Eupatorium Cannabinum. Most of the wildflowers have already gone to seed.

Back to the walk now and as we headed towards the dam following the curve of the path around the lake we were all taken by surprise at just how low the water level is at present. This dam was completed in 1969 and has been holding back 700 million litres of water ever since, enough to supply a large part of ’s population with fresh drinking water. We paused on the top of the dam so everyone could re-assemble before continuing around the perimeter of the lake; a small pine woodland came later creating a completely different environment, here it was dark and damp with mosses and ferns growing in abundance. When we came back out into the sunshine there were Swallows and House Martins flying all around. They were busily catching insects in flight amongst the animals grazing silently in the fields beyond the lake’s boundary. A bird-scarer was going off intermittently and when the birds flew off, they came to rest in a tree right in front of us and everyone stood to watch the action. Very soon the Swallows will be off to South Africa, a journey which takes about six weeks. They fly approximately 200 miles a day, mainly during daylight. After crossing the Channel the birds will fly over the Pyrenees and then down eastern Spain into Morocco before finally crossing the Sahara and the rainforests of the Congo. It is still not known exactly where in Africa the House Martins spend the winter.

Incidentally, birdwatching is another popular hobby that takes place at Siblyback Lake with a bird hide at one end of the lake to watch the many different species of waterfowl.

Soon we were on the home stretch passing beside a huge fallen tree and then crossing a small wooden bridge with a stream beneath which snaked off into the distance. On arrival at the café most of us chose to purchase a drink and a snack and sit at outside at a picnic table to consume them before heading home.