Along the River Exe

Along the quayside and the river the cracks in the walls have plants sprouting from them and are a mass of colour. This is Ivy-leaved Toadflax.


I think this is a clover of some sort but I have yet to identify it.


These daisy-like flowers are Mexican Fleabane. It is abiundant around the quay area.


The water in the Exe is remarkably clear for such a big river.


This splendid Ceanothus was outside some flats on the waterside.


I wonder if there is a message in it?



This is Trews Weir on the River Exe.




Trews Weir Suspension Bridge was constructed in 1935 and in the 1990s it was re-furbished and re-opened to the public.


Looking back at the weir and quay.


Looking downriver from the bridge.


I crossed over the bridge and had a walk along the other bank - the canal side - for a while but decided the scenery had looked better on the Eastern side.


This is Water Speedwell (Veronica anagallis-aquatica).


I was really glad I had this spell on the Western side because otherwise I would have missed this potter or mason wasp (possibly Ancistrocerus antilope).



That's assuming you live to get fined!


I carried on walking down the riverside until I came to Belle Isle Park where this beautiful Weeping Willow was hanging over the water's edge.


Further along more willows, lime and hawthorn all overhung the water.


This is Comfrey. Once I made battered comfrey leaves, following a country recipe book I had. They tasted like furry dishcloths. not an experiment to be repeated.


This netting was placed around a swans nest but whether to protect the swans from people or vice versa was not clear. Sadly, a swan on a nest just down the river was attacked and killed by a bull terrier last week. That made the headlines in the Exeter newspaper - a bit different to the gang shootings that all too often are the headlines back home.



The swan had four eggs. According to a resident, out for a stroll, last year this nest had seven eggs but despite all seven hatching only one survived the first week. It is thought the others were killed by a Mink.


The cob was in close attendance on the river.

All in all a beautiful walk in ideal weather.