The River Wolf is a minor river in the west of the county of Devon

Devon

Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...

 in England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. Its name may come from a Celtic

Celtic languages

The Celtic languages are descended from Proto-Celtic, or "Common Celtic"; a branch of the greater Indo-European language family...

 or earlier name recorded by the Roman map-maker Ptolemy

Ptolemy

Claudius Ptolemy , was a Roman citizen of Egypt who wrote in Greek. He was a mathematician, astronomer, geographer, astrologer, and poet of a single epigram in the Greek Anthology. He lived in Egypt under Roman rule, and is believed to have been born in the town of Ptolemais Hermiou in the...

 (Ptolemy II 3 13) as Ουολιβα (Voliba) as a town of the Dumnonii

Dumnonii

The Dumnonii or Dumnones were a British Celtic tribe who inhabited Dumnonia, the area now known as Devon and Cornwall in the farther parts of the South West peninsula of Britain, from at least the Iron Age up to the early Saxon period...

 (it may be Broadbury Castle

Broadbury Castle

Broadbury Castle is an Iron Age earthwork close to Beaworthy in Devon, England, map ref: SX4895, it is thought to be a Roman fort, marching camp or signal station....

); rather than referring to the wolf animal.

The river runs from Broadbury through the valley below Germansweek and empties into Roadford Lake

Roadford Lake

Roadford Lake, also known as Roadford Reservoir is a man-made reservoir fed by the River Wolf. It is located to the north-east of Broadwoodwidger in West Devon, eight miles east of Launceston. It is the largest area of fresh water in the southwest of England. Operated by South West Water, it...

, a man-made reservoir built in 1989. In July 2006 some 100 million litres of water were released from the lake to help the survival of salmon in the river during a prolonged period of drought.

After Roadford Lake the river continues through Slew Woods below the village of Broadwoodwidger

Broadwoodwidger

Broadwoodwidger is a village and civil parish in the Torridge district of Devon, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 548. The village is just off the A30 road, and is about eight miles east of Launceston in Cornwall, and 13 miles west of Okehampton...

. It then continues in a southerly direction eventually merging with the River Thrushel

River Thrushel

The River Thrushel is a river in Devon, England.The Thrushel runs westerly from its source near Meldon to Tinhay, where it joins the River Wolf.The river is marked as Tinhay River on Donn's map of 1765....

 near Stowford and then joins the River Lew

River Lew

The River Lew can refer to either of two short rivers that lie close to each other in Devon, England.The more northerly of the two rises just south of the village of Beaworthy, and flows east, then turns north to run past Hatherleigh before joining the River Torridge about 1 km north of the town...

 at Tinhay near Lifton and becomes the River Lyd

River Lyd (Devon)

The Lyd is a river rising at Lyd Head in the Dartmoor national park in Devon in south-west England and flowing into the River Tamar beyond Lifton.-Lydford Gorge:...

. The River Lyd eventually joins the River Tamar

River Tamar

The Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...

 at the Devon/Cornwall border just east of Launceston.