River Barle
An Exmoor river dropping from the open moor through steep oak woods to Dulverton, crossed at Tarr Steps
The Barle rises on The Chains, the high boggy ground in the middle of Exmoor, and runs about twenty-three miles south-east to join the Exe at Exebridge. The top of it is open moorland water, peat-stained and fast; below Simonsbath it cuts into a deep wooded valley of sessile oak, and stays there almost to Dulverton. It is a salmon and sea trout river, and the oak woods along it are old enough to carry their own protection.
Tarr Steps is the set piece: a clapper bridge of huge flat stones across the river, medieval at the latest and repeatedly washed away and rebuilt after floods. There is a car park above it and a well-used riverside path up and down stream from there. Iron Age forts stand on the spurs above the valley at Mounsey Castle and Cow Castle.
The Two Moors Way follows the river for a good stretch. Wild swimming happens in the deeper pools below Tarr Steps in summer, though the water comes off the moor cold and rises fast after rain. Tiverton Parkway is the nearest station, about fifteen miles away.
