Talk:River Tamar

Image of source available on Commons, but not added
File:Woolley Moor - geograph.org.uk - 698218.jpg shows the source of the Tamar. It's a view of an unprepossessing patch of brambly thicket and I didn't think worth adding. If anybody's interested, it flows from the bank, centre-left, roughly towards the lower left.

Any info on the origin of the name?
Is it from the Bible? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 188.27.243.153 (talk) 10:29, 16 September 2012 (UTC)

It's very likely not Biblical. The page text says; "prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames." Which looks pretty likely as the name for the Thames in Celtic Britain was Tamesis. The Dark Sea [similar enough to the Dark Flowing] or Water's Darkness or the Watery Dark seem possible with my limited knowledge of Celtic languages but I'm not about to call that final. However, if it's a pre-PIE word or even a Pre-Celtic one, then there's likely no seriously intelligible translation for it.

I'd recommend just saying that's it's of ambigious origin, though likely Early Celtic and related to the Thames.

--Fauxlosophe (talk) 06:57, 15 September 2013 (UTC)

I just added a bunch of info about the source of the name (see "Legend of Tamara" section under "Folklore"). I am confused, however, by the reference to "dark flowing" as the meaning. I am sitting here with a stack of books about the Tamar, and all of them say the same thing, that it means "Great Water"--and none of them says anything at all about "dark flowing." I don't see any source in the article for this "dark flowing" reference, although I see the "dark flowing" stuff parroted all over the internet with identical wording to what's in this article. Can someone provide a genuine source for that information? Otherwise I think it should come out, because there are at least three sources saying "Great Water". Tamarleigh (talk) 16:02, 30 January 2014 (UTC)
 * This is an interesting discussion (to which there may never be a perfect solution). This book of place names (p 454 for Thames) also has "dark flowing" or similar as does this book on the Thames. Eilert Ekwall (my preferred source for English place names) on page 459, traces the name back to Tamdros in c. 150 & various variations over the centuries and links it to TAME -> Thames suggesting melt water but does suggest the Sanskrit word for "darkness".&mdash; Rod talk 13:38, 9 July 2016 (UTC)

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Navigation
I have corrected the article to show that excursions beyond Calstock have been suspended indefinitely. I was told by the operator that a tree had falled in the river between Calstock and Morwellham Quay and there were difficulties over its removal. I have not been able to find a citation for the "tree" story, but there were many trees blown down during the gales on 9 March 2016. Exbrum (talk) 16:01, 5 January 2017 (UTC)

Article split
I think Tamar Valley should be split out of this article, it is non standard having a landmass discussed inside an article about a river because plainly the valley isn't inside the river. Comments? Szzuk (talk) 18:38, 26 September 2018 (UTC)


 * Are you referring to the Tamar Valley AONB? In any case, is there enough material for a stand-alone article? If not, just keep it in this article - it's not unrelated, as the valley is there directly because of the river! Sumorsǣte (talk) 19:28, 26 September 2018 (UTC)

Bridge? What bridge?
The illustrative photograph that purports to show a bridge doesn't do so, as far as I can tell. The stretch of road shown appears to have brambly thickets all the way on both sides, with no sign of a river or a bridge that I can see. --Haruo (talk) 05:54, 30 June 2019 (UTC)

Length of river
It is not immediately clear where the Tamar is considered to end and hence how long it may be considered to be, though there's a length quoted from EB1911. The article suggests it stops as it enters the Hamoaze but that page says that the Hamoaze is a stretch of the tidal R Tamar, so ought it not to be included? My own measurements (derived from online 1:25,000 scale OS mapping using a digital tool - 'wheresthepath') reckon the river to be 105km/65mi from source to the county limit in the vicinity of the road and rail bridges, a figure already somewhat in excess of the EB figure (which experience with other British rivers has shown should be taken with a pinch of salt). I'd be confident of the accuracy of my measurement to better than 1% but it is of course original research on my part so cannot be included in the article but it does at least give an idea of what a true figure should look like if and when an editor finds a suitable reference out there! cheers Geopersona (talk) 14:48, 24 December 2021 (UTC)
 * I had intended to note also that the map showing its catchment extends to include Hamoaze in the definition. Geopersona (talk) 16:39, 24 December 2021 (UTC)