Bideford: Tarka the Otter

Tarka is the main character in ‘Tarka the Otter: His Joyful Water-life and Death in the Country of the Two Rivers’ by Henry Williamson. Williamson was said to have been inspired by an actual otter that he had found and rehabilitated as a child, basing much of the adventures in the book on real places in and around North Devon. The book has never been out of print since publication in 1927. The legacy of the book on the region is obvious with the Tarka Trail, for example, which covers many of the locations featured.

In 2017, a bronze statue of Tarka was placed on the Quay in Bideford, as a reminder of the town’s connection to the otter’s story. On the base is a quote from the book: ‘Tarka passed under the ancient Long Bridge which the monks built across their ford …’  To the right of the statue is the Long Bridge, a remarkable structure, approximately 677 feet long, which was first built in the 13th century and has since undergone several rebuilds and renovations, making this the perfect spot for Tarka to survey the town.

It has been many years since I read ‘Tarka the Otter’, one of the few books which I have never managed to finish. Although beautifully written and evocative, it is also full of cruelty and I am- and have always been- far too squeamish for some of its content. However, loving a Literary Location as I do, I enjoyed seeing the statue and the rest of Bideford.

Tarka the Otter statue

The Quay,

Bideford

EX39 2AG