You’d have to have a very hard heart not to feel happy in high summer at the sight of our native iris in flower, it strings itself about like bunting across the boggy marginal land of the river Camel.

Xylem carries precious water up from root to stem, but is harder and woodier in xerophytic plants on salt marshes like those of the Camel where adaptations to dryness and saltiness mean water requirements are lower.  Zoning of the species that are able to grow up and down the mudflats is by their preference for more or less salinity and tidal soaking, they are among the most interesting but also most ignored plants along the river, but it’s well worth a stop and a look on the way into Wadebridge from Padstow.

Whatever the tide is doing, the Camel is passable at Wadebridge by road; the name of the town belies its probable origins as a ford, and river still makes itself felt in winter floods from time to time.

Viticulture in England is still something of a novelty, but the south-facing slopes of the Camel Valley have produced award-winning wines for more than twenty years. Whenever there is a posh do in the county, corks are popped on bottles of sparkling Cornwall in preference to any champagne; visiting the vineyard you can taste or tour if you wish, the terrace offers a chance to sit on to sit and admire the beautiful landscape in which the grapes seem so happy.

Under the trees lining the Camel there is a smell of moss and leaves that are always damp, a fungal topnote betrays the constant turnover by slime moulds and their true fungus cousins.  Vegetabley and muddy, as the year turns it changes a little; dry weather leavens the yeast with a smudge of hay, wet and cold keep it flat and green like the liverworts.  Walking by the water there is always something new to see, but the smell under the oaks is always the same

Two riders on two wheels equals twice the power and potentially close to twice the speed.  Using a bike hire inspires a tandem trial in lots of visitors to the Camel trail who always make me a little envious as they belt along.

Such is the conservation value of the river Camel and itstributaries, that an area between Egloshayle and Blisland has been designated a site of special scientific interest by Natural England.  This is the largest of the five SSSIs in the area, which democratically recognise not only animal species like the otter and wading birds, but also the fantastic and ugly Bullhead fish.  Under the guidance of conservation organisation, the riparian owners manage the land in everyone’s best interests, which keeps the fauna and flora happy too.

Rowdy hooray public schoolers on half-term, pretending they are US college kids on spring break, have given Rock a bit of a reputation. Safe to say that in summer you can’t move for Breton stripes, boat shoes and Boden swimsuits, but out of season the sandy beach is a good bet for an easy walk.  The estuary widens at this point, but is still very sheltered and so when the tides aren’t too low it’s also a fun place to learn dinghy sailing.

Quite a bit of Cornwall has been dug up at one time or another, and the catchment of the Camel is no exception.  Ruthernbridge was the site of one of many Cornish tin mines, now closed and much-romanticised.  Slate is still extracted from Delabole near Camelford, but sessile oak now grows round the abandoned quarry in the Hawke’s Wood reserve near Wadebridge.  Tourism provides a much safer, less dirty way of making a living than mining, and though it’s often said you can’t eat scenery, the Camel trail and the visitors it attracts are one way that this is regularly disproved.