The stream that runs through Glen Goyle has more than one name, which can be confusing – both the Bickwell and the Woolbrook are given:
Glen Goyle refers to the area of land immediately surrounding the stream that runs alongside Glen Road from the sea up to Cotmaton Road. The stream itself originates at Bickwell (Beeka’s Well, according to the Dictionary of Devon Placenames).
There is no record of a name for the stream or the valley until 1817, when Gen. Baynes leased Kings Cottage and renamed it Woolbrook Cottage, implying that the stream was called the Wool Brook… it is a strange choice as it is the same name as the main tributary of the Sid that runs from Core Hill down through Stowford and Woolbrook Village to join the Sid just to the East of Exeter Cross.
Others have suggested that the name of the stream is ancient and comes from Old English for “small“ (“hwonli“ is small in Old English) or ‘Brook coming immediately from a spring, not yet joined by another’ (“well“ is a spring in Old English). Either of these names could apply to any stream in the Sid valley and is therefore a poor choice if the purpose of a name is to distinguish it from others.
What’s in a name? What to call the stream running through the Glen Goyle? – Friends of Glen Goyle
Strictly speaking, this stream is not part of the Sid Valley catchment area – as it is not a tributary of the River Sid, as with the other-named Woolbrook, Snod Brook and the streams running through the Roncombe and Burscombe valleys. River Sid Catchment: slowing the run-off and slowing the flow – The Sid and Sidbury Manor Estate’s River Sid catchment scheme and natural flood management – The Sid
However, this Woolbrook or Bickwell stream is clearly part of the Sid Valley’s topography – and is considered an important site for interactions with both nature and people.
The stream rises just below Muttersmoor – and takes a fair bit of run-off from the surrounding fields. The SVBG has included the Bickwell in its researches: Report On The Water Quality Of The River Sid, Its Tributaries And Bickwell Brook. – Sid Valley Biodiversity Group
For the last four years, the Friends of Glen Goyle has been devoted to ‘the heart’ of the stream. Here are a few photos of the stream taken down Glen Goyle by Ed Dolphin: February 2021: the brook – Friends of Glen Goyle
With another fine view caught of the burbling brook along the Glen by FOGG working party member John Hopkins last autumn:
Late autumn 2023 newsletter – Friends of Glen Goyle
And finally, the stream disgorges itself into the sea just below the Bedford Hotel – but as it is not a forceful piece of water, even at full spate, it does not have the ‘strength’ to find its way down to the sea itself and just sits in a pool – as photographed this week by Denise Bickley: Sid Valley Biodiversity Group | Facebook
With comment from Paul Foster pointing out why that is:
That’s where the stream that runs down through the glen runs into the sea. The sea throws all the stones up and makes a dam and the stream soaks through them to the sea. but the surface always gets scummy with the dirt that washes down, eventually a big rain will break through the dam and it will run clear, until the sea blocks it off again. then it will get dirty and scummy again and so the cycle goes on.
Thank you to all for the contributions.