Tarka Line: window card

About this journey

The Tarka Line links Exeter with Barnstaple through Crediton and the wooded valleys of inland Devon. The route shares the Exeter approach with the Dartmoor Line before the branches separate beyond Crediton. Barnstaple trains continue through Copplestone, Lapford and Eggesford into the Taw country. This is a river-valley journey to a North Devon market town; the beaches at places such as Woolacombe and Croyde require onward travel beyond the railway terminus.

Kings Nympton, Portsmouth Arms, Umberleigh and Chapelton mark the lower-valley approach to Barnstaple. The railway follows the winding Taw, crossing or changing its relationship to the river as it passes fields, trees and villages. Both sides therefore have useful outlooks. A stretch of water on one side does not establish a single river-facing window for the whole route. The closing arrival brings the town and the trail connections beyond the station.

The line opened in 1854. Its name recalls Henry Williamson's novel Tarka the Otter, whose North Devon setting gives the railway and the walking trail a shared identity. The passenger line and the traffic-free trail are different routes: one carries the train into Barnstaple, while the other uses former railway corridors beyond the town. A day can combine them without cycling the full trail, provided the walking or cycling distance leaves time for the return departure.

A normal scheduled Great Western Railway service linking Exeter with Barnstaple. Beyond Crediton, the train threads quiet farming country and follows the Yeo and Taw valleys through a sequence of small rural stations before reaching North Devon's principal town.

For a practical day trip, travel to Barnstaple and choose either the historic town centre or a short, level section of the traffic-free Tarka Trail from near the station, leaving a generous margin for the return train. Crediton or Eggesford can work as a stop-off only after checking the current service pattern. An overnight in Barnstaple gives more time for an onward bus to the North Devon coast, but train and bus connections should be planned separately.

Window card questions