Upper Tamar lake is a

reservoir A reservoir (; from French ''réservoir'' ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam. Such a dam may be either artificial, built to store fresh water or it may be a natural formation. Reservoirs can be created in a number of ways, including contro ...

on the border of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

and

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

in south-west

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is owned by

South West Water South West Water provides drinking water and waste water services throughout Devon and Cornwall and in small areas of Dorset and Somerset. South West Water was created in 1989 with the privatisation of the water industry. It was preceded by the ...

and managed by the South West Lakes Trust. The reservoir serves the water supply in the

Bude Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Cornish ...

area of Cornwall and surrounding districts, including

Clovelly Clovelly () is a privately-owned harbour village in the Torridge district of Devon, England. The settlement and surrounding land belongs to John Rous who inherited it from his mother in 1983. He belongs to the Hamlyn family who have managed th ...

Bradworthy Bradworthy is a village and civil parish in Devon, England. The village is close to the site of the first wind turbines in Devon, erected in 2005. Bradworthy has the largest village square in England. The civil parish is bordered by the Devon pa ...

and

Warbstow Warbstow ( kw, Lannwarburgh) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish has a population of 439 according to the 2001 census, increasing to 520 at the 2011 census. The parish is one of the few left in England ...

. To the south (downstream on the

River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...

) is the older

Lower Tamar Lake Lower Tamar Lake is located on the Devon-Cornwall border, in England, near Thurdon.Ordnance Survey mapping It was constructed in the 1820s to supply water to the Bude Canal. It is now a nature reserve. It is also a popular fishing lake. The re ...

. The county boundary follows the line of the river as it was prior to the construction of the reservoir, therefore now within the lake, resulting in it being in both Devon and Cornwall.

History

The lake was planned as an expansion of the local water supply, and to avoid a potential

drought A drought is defined as drier than normal conditions.Douville, H., K. Raghavan, J. Renwick, R.P. Allan, P.A. Arias, M. Barlow, R. Cerezo-Mota, A. Cherchi, T.Y. Gan, J. Gergis, D. Jiang, A. Khan, W. Pokam Mba, D. Rosenfeld, J. Tierney, an ...

in the area. Work on the lake began in May 1973 by W. C. French (Construction) Ltd. It was constructed by placing a concrete

gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation to oppose the horizontal pressure of water pushing against it. ...

across the edge of the lake to retain water. Work was mostly complete by 1975, and it was officially opened in October 1977. It is about in area with a capacity of around 300 million gallons (1,400 million litres).

Leisure

The lake is a popular place for water sports, including sailing, windsurfing and kayaking. There is a visitors centre near the lake, with camping facilities. The Upper Tamar Sailing Club (UTLSC) is a group of regular sailors on the lake. It is a popular

coarse fishing In Britain and Ireland, coarse fishing (, ) refers to angling for rough fish, which are fish species traditionally considered undesirable as a food or game fish. Freshwater game fish are all salmonids — most particularly salmon, trout and cha ...

lake, with

carp Carp are various species of oily freshwater fish from the family Cyprinidae, a very large group of fish native to Europe and Asia. While carp is consumed in many parts of the world, they are generally considered an invasive species in parts of ...

being a popular catch. The lake is an area of special protection from birds under the Protection of Birds Acts 1954. The nearest bus station to the lakes is at

Kilkhampton Kilkhampton ( kw, Kylgh) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in northeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is on the A39 road#Atlantic Highway, A39 about four miles (6 km) north-northeast of Bude. Kilk ...

, 3 miles away.

References

Citations Sources * {{authority control Environment of Cornwall Environment of Devon Reservoirs in Devon Reservoirs in Cornwall River Tamar