Exploring the local area – Otterhead Lakes

As we’d promised ourselves to take a few days off over Christmas (and the Christmas tree is preventing us from carrying on the painting anyway), we decided to start exploring our local area a bit more. The Otterhead Lakes are only 15 minutes drive from here in the neighbouring Otter Valley (we live in the Yarty Valley). The lakes are located along the River Otter within a nature reserve, and were originally part of a huge Victorian estate, with the house being demolished just after the Second World War when the water board bought the land. You can still see various parts of the estate, including the remnants of the terraced gardens, and stone steps that once would have led up to the house. 

The two remaining lakes (of the original seven) are set within a variety of woodlands and there are various paths that loop around both the lakes and through the woods. We did a loop around Royston Lake (the longer of the two) and then a smaller loop at the side of Top Lake just by the site of Otterhead House. Going the day after Storm Bella meant that the river was flowing pretty fast (particularly through the Cascades area); but it also meant some very muddy paths and comedy sliding moments, grabbing tree branches for support! We were really excited to see evidence of beavers too – there aren’t many wild beavers in England but it’s estimated that about 15 families have lived along the full stretch of the Otter River since 2008 (lots of information on the Devon Wildlife Trust website here. 

It was a lovely way to spend a couple of hours, and especially nice to find a flatter walk so close to our house. Definitely one to add to our cottage ‘Places to visit’ lists!