All aboard as the Tamar Valley AONB has plans to reinstate the iconic Calstock Ferry after receiving a funding boost from Defra.

The proposed ferry service that will link the Cornwall and Devon sides of the river will run on a trial basis next summer to assess long-term sustainability and viability.

Calstock has a history of ferries running on the river thought to date back to the Saxon times. In most recent years, the ferries that ran from Calstock were The Tamar Passenger Ferry which was in operation from 1999 until 2015 and the Calstock Ferry which ran until 2016.

The idea for reinstating the ferry next summer was the result of a feasibility study conducted during the Tamara Landscape Scheme development phase. The conclusion was that a seasonal service linking improved quays at Cotehele, Ferry Farm footpath near Bere Alston and the Calstock slipways, was a viable proposition. The funding the Tamar Valley AONB has received as part of Defra’s ‘Access for All: Removing Barriers in Protected Landscapes’ grant is designed to provide access improvements to make landscapes more accessible to people of all ages and abilities and from all backgrounds. It is intended that a proportion of this funding will be used as match-funding to add further value to the Tamara Landscape Partnership’s Coast 2 Coast Way project by reinstating the Calstock Ferry using a new purpose-built boat enabling wheelchair and less-abled access. It is hoped the ferry will greatly increase accessibility for visitors and local communities alike on a popular stretch of the Tamar Discovery Trail.

Dan Cooke, Tamar Valley AONB manager said: ‘We’re grateful to Defra for this additional funding.

‘The proposed Calstock and Cotehele Ferry is just one of the exciting opportunities that we’re planning in 2023 and beyond to enhance access for people of all abilities and backgrounds to our beautiful Tamar Valley landscape. We’ll be working with a number of our partners early in the New Year to ensure that the trial ferry service delivers not just improved accessibility, but local economic benefits too.’

Support for the ferry has already been received from Calstock Parish Council that confirmed at the last meeting that it supports the ferry in principle subject to investigation of issues such as use of the pontoon and car parking.

Dorothy Kirk, Parish Councillor and Cornwall Councillor said: ‘If the ferry could utilise Calstock’s beauty and help people to enjoy that more then that would be brilliant, it’s just whether it’s commercially viable. The last ferry didn’t get enough custom, if we restart it I hope that they do and I wish them luck. It would be another way of exploiting Calstock’s estuarine location.’

The Tamar Valley AONB has also had support from local people who have offered to run the service, one of which being Joshua Preston the operator of the late Tamar Passenger Ferry.

Joshua said: ‘I’m considering helping to run the new ferry this summer and to help them get started. I also have a brand new vessel that I’ve offered them.'