"It is sweet to see how soon a spring becomes a rill, and a rill runs on into a rivulet, and a rivulet swells into a brook; and before one has time to say 'what are you at?' - before the first tree it ever spoke to is a dummy, or the first hill it ever ran down has turned blue, here we all have airs and graces, demands and assertions of a full grown river." - R.D. Blackmore.
I'd like to think that he had the River Exe in mind when he wrote that.
The Exe rises on Exmoor in Somerset only 5 miles from the Bristol Channel. However it had a different route in mind, running south through Devon to reach its estuary at the city of Exeter.
I'd like to think that he had the River Exe in mind when he wrote that.
The Exe rises on Exmoor in Somerset only 5 miles from the Bristol Channel. However it had a different route in mind, running south through Devon to reach its estuary at the city of Exeter.
![]() |
River Exe at Tiverton |
The Exe Valley Way, a long distance route, enables you to walk along the length of the river valley and enables you to appreciate the words of R.D. Blackmore (Author of Lorna Doone)
Photo attribution:
- River Exe at Tiverton: 30 August 2010 by IDS.photos - CC BY-SA 2.0 Licence