South West Lakes Trust

South West Lakes Trust is the charity responsible for looking after public access and recreation at reservoirs across Devon and Cornwall, working on land owned by South West Water. On Dartmoor it manages three contrasting sites. Burrator Reservoir, on the moor's southern edge near Sheepstor, is a well-loved trout fishery of about 150 acres, with bank and boat fishing run through the Burrator Fly Fishers club, fly-fishing tuition, several car parks and a network of easy circular walking and cycling routes with views of Sharpitor and Leather Tor. Fernworthy Reservoir, tucked into forestry above Chagford, is a fly-fishing-only brown trout water surrounded by waymarked woodland trails and moorland archaeology, including Bronze Age hut circles and a submerged clapper bridge. Avon Dam, reached on foot from a car park at Shipley Bridge on South Dartmoor, offers free wild brown trout fishing amid open moorland scenery. Across all its sites the Trust's stated aim is "healthy lakes, landscapes and lives": protecting reservoirs, woodlands and heritage so that wildlife can thrive while people continue to fish, walk, cycle and enjoy these places. It is a registered charity (no. 1079966), distinct from South West Water, which owns the reservoirs and supplies drinking water from them. Cover photograph: Burrator Reservoir suspension bridge, by Guy Wareham, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.