The Plym valley trail stretches from Plymouth to Tavistock and runs over three viaducts. It runs for 10 miles, both alongside the river Plym, and the old railway line. It is a popular spot for cyclists, I have never been down it, but from reviews and looking over the bridge to the path, it looked amazing, a wide bridleway under an archway of trees, like a never ending tunnel. I will be going back one day to regain my confidence on a bike.
Niema and I, bike-less, opted to go along the river bed, it runs parallel to the cycle route but goes down a steep hill to start- in order to get to the same level as the river. The steep decline included lots of slippery rocks, mud and ironically a lot of crap, we made it down slowly and no one fell! It wouldn’t be a great start for those with weak knees but once you’re at the bottom it’s fine.
Once we got down, we were immediately presented by shallow running water, we took a seat on a mossy tree that leaned over wet rocks, close enough to feel like we were sat in the river but not too far that any of our belongings went in for a swim. We sat here for a while, maybe 30 minutes, possibly longer. The sun would occasionally peek through the leaves, proving their translucence, and speckle the water. The only sounds and the only things I could think about were the birds singing, the water running gently and the wind blowing through the trees. A family of ducks swam by, a mother and two babies. They didn’t look like mallards, similar but different enough to notice, from google I think a gadwall. After searching ‘baby Gawdall’, I’m almost certain. They swam up and down the width of the stream, careful not to go down what, in comparison to their size, seemed like a waterfall or big water slide, but I doubt either would appeal to a mum with two newborns.
When we decided to move, it took us a while to escape the lattice of slippery trees and rocks we had willingly got ourselves into. But it’s not uncommon for Niema and I to walk slow, we both take lots of pictures of everything which doesn’t help either. We just can’t help it when everything is so beautiful.
Today it felt like the trees wanted to be photographed, I always feel that way but this time the focus was on the leaves, they were begging for a pretty portrait. As we looked through the lens, each variant became more apparent, I suddenly felt more educated on different trees and their defining features - through their leaves, their little hands that reach out to touch their above-ground surroundings. It is surprising, the number of different tree species in one area.
To continue the slow walk, we got distracted by a small path running perpendicular to our current one. It was full of green, ferns overgrowing, foxgloves, brambles too, not the best route for me wearing shorts and a vest top. Eventually, this, and the fear of bumping into a bike, led me to put on my trousers and for us to turn around. We kept going along the path and to the delight of someone that loves a skimmer, we found a beach covered in them, with glass-like flat water too. I couldn’t get bored of this place, not with its unlimited buffet of perfectly flat stones, not until we looked up and got distracted by the sun glowing through each individual leaf. A bright blush of green spread across the sky, it barely looked real, instead like a hand-drawn cartoon but definitely better than anything AI could do. My attention was drawn back to the water when I noticed a tunnel of light shining through the branches, bugs flew across the surface and from a distance looked like fireflies dancing under a spotlight. We spent a while here, throwing stones, taking photos, Niema ate a cheese and onion slice that tasted “worse than (she) could have ever expected” and “absolutely vile”… the crisps were nice though.
We hadn’t heard or seen anyone this whole time, it was one of the reasons we enjoyed the walk so much, just us and nature, maybe the majority of cars parked by Ulga were those heading along the cycle path. We were the only people till we heard two boys in the distance, one shouting for the other, a countdown to jump in the water. To be honest, the noise of other humans made me a bit weary and we both felt the same. In an urban environment or city, I know how to act, I am used to it and usually it’s pretty easy to go about yourselves. But in nature, I have no idea how to act normal, usually it’s just a ‘hiya’ and if they have a dog I’ll talk to the dog- either way it makes me nervous.
We panicked a little but didn’t have much time to do so, in the distance a female deer ran across the stream, behind her another, her young. They were beautiful and though they are common, we couldn’t believe it. They ran across the path we were on and we watched them go. I wanted to get a photo of them but I couldn’t manage, they moved too fast and probably thanks to us being there. Just as we thought it was the end of the show, another stumbled across the shallow rocks. This one slower, like it was slacking behind the other two. She did not seem to mind too much though, she could hear us, head tilting, ears twitching, the fallow stopped and faced us. She stared directly at us, a bit fearful but warmly, she was a light, golden, toffee type of brown, like a Worther’s original. White spots covered her back and filled her underbelly too. She felt kind and gentle, I can’t explain how, and she let me take a picture of her. From then all I could think about was the fallow, I had forgotten about the two voices in the distance.
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