dog or drown?

FISHING MEMORIES

The River Incident

Although this little story is not really relevant to actually fishing, I thought it was worth telling to highlight the real danger that exists at times when we frequent fishing areas. It actually happened in the Autumn of 2013.

For you to be able to understand exactly what happened I need to fill you in about the layout of the rivers around Newton Abbot in the County of Devon. The rivers that run around the town are the Lemon and the Teign. Also there is a Culvert which carries any excess flood water away from the town centre shopping area.

 The town centre has flooded in the past and due to this the Culvert was built and because of this we have not had any bad flooding for many years. The Culvert and the River Lemon flow into the River Teign about half a mile from the town centre at what is called the Town Quay. I live just around the corner from the quay alongside the local brewery called Tuckers Maltings. The brewery provides the malt for many small brewery’s in Devon.

The rivers around town are all affected by the tide as we are less than five miles from the seaside town of Teignmouth as the crow or seagull flies.

The Town Quay is a deep water berth for all types including trawlers from as far away as Norway to land their fish and others to unload their many types of cargoes. The tide can bring up the depths of the river by up to six feet or more so where I live we have to keep an eye on levels at times of high tide and it often comes to within a couple of feet of flooding. We are not covered by the walls on each side of the culvert which protects the main town. Having set the scene I will get back to my main story.

The culvert is as I have said, banked by ten feet high walls in the main part of town. When we have exceptionally high tides coupled with heavy rain draining off the moorland the culvert can go from a few inches in depth, rising to almost eight feet. It can go from just a trickle to a raging torrent which flows so fast; you cannot run fast enough to match the current.

Just outside the ASDA Supermarket the culvert enters a tunnel which goes under the main part of town for several hundred yards and then it flows under a few road bridges, before joining the Lemon and Teign at the Town Quay.

The incident which happened relates to a man walking his dog just outside ASDA and next to the culvert. At that point there is a small slip entry to allow workmen to access the culvert to carry out any necessary repairs. It seems that the dog slipped its lead and jumped into the culvert. The dog was quickly swept away by the current.  Without thinking, the man jumped into the culvert in a bid to save his dog and was, himself swept away.

They were quickly dragged along with the current into the tunnel and under the town centre. The tunnel was absolutely full of water with hardly any air between the surface and the top of the tunnel.

No-one could get anywhere near the man while in the tunnel and it was impossible for anyone to run fast enough to get to the end of the tunnel before the man was swept out or not. By some sort of miracle, the dog survived and got out of the culvert. The man, however, was swept the half mile downstream by the current, until he came to a stop just upstream of the Town Quay. He was stopped by the bushes and branches growing on the side of the bank.

From what I have since learned, he was still alive at this point, but his body was all battered and bruised by the many obstacles he had encountered along the way. By the time his rescuers got to him he was unconscious and although they fought to keep him alive and used the Devon Air Ambulance Helicopter to get him to hospital, he subsequently died from his injuries.

Rivers can be a source of beauty and tranquillity at times. They can be enjoyed by everyone at those times. They can also be a high source of danger at other times, especially when tidal. I think back to the many times I have heard of dog owners jumping into water attempting to save their pets and subsequently dying themselves, while their dog manages to get out and save itself.

This was indeed one of those sad occasions.

Gordon Rowland

19^th March 2015