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Cornwall, England

Lostwithiel Quay slip

LaunchA slipway listed by Fowey Harbour Commissioners as one of the estuary's public launching sites, at the head of the tidal Fowey.
ParkingFree parking runs along the quay on Quay Street and at Coulson Park car park at the far end of the park.
AccessReached via Fore Street and Quay Street into Coulson Park. Fowey Harbour Commissioners ask paddlers to launch only from public locations unless they have the landowner's permission.
SeasonCoulson Park, beside the slip, is prone to flooding in high water conditions.
RegulationsFowey Harbour Commissioners ask all SUPs, kayaks and canoes to register and pay harbour dues under the Fowey Harbour Byelaws 1996 and the Harbour Act 1847, and may make registration compulsory by General Direction if take-up remains low; the harbour speed limit is 6 knots.

This slipway is on Quay Street at Polscoe, just south of Lostwithiel, at the head of the River Fowey's tidal estuary. Fowey Harbour Commissioners' jurisdiction runs from the harbour mouth up to the tidal limit at Lostwithiel's medieval bridge. Lostwithiel was a working river port until siltation reduced navigation, and a horse-drawn tramway once carried ore from the Restormel mine down to the town quay.

Immediately upstream of the slip stands Lostwithiel's medieval bridge, a Grade I listed structure largely dating from the mid-15th century, with five arches spanning thirteen feet each and a roadway eleven feet wide; an eighteenth-century flood arch was added later, and the bridge is recorded as Ancient Monument no. 65.

The upper estuary at Lostwithiel lies within the Upper Fowey and Pont Pill Marine Conservation Zone, one of the smallest in England at two square kilometres, protecting a rocky estuarine habitat that is rare in the South West together with an area of saltmarsh at the head of the estuary. Most of the wider Fowey estuary is also designated a Bass Nursery Area.

A branch railway carrying china clay traffic from Lostwithiel to Fowey follows the river's west bank for part of its route.

Nearby

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Q Street Coffee

Independent coffee shop on Queen Street, Lostwithiel.

Eden Valley Holiday Park

Adults-only touring and camping park near Lanlivery, about 1.5 miles from Lostwithiel; open 1 April to 31 October.

Website

Conditions to check

Tidal flow

The upper estuary dries extensively at low water, exposing mudflats; boats reach Lostwithiel only on a rising or high tide.

Source
Boat traffic

Small boats are kept and secured at the slipway by local boat owners.

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