Appledore slipway, Irsha Street
This slipway sits on Irsha Street, at the exposed, north-western tip of Appledore where the Taw and Torridge combine and drain west across the Bideford Bar into Bideford Bay. This is the more open, seaward side of the village, in contrast with the sheltered Torridge-side quay around the corner.
The Taw-Torridge confluence
From the water, a paddler faces the confluence of the Taw and Torridge, with Crow Point and the Braunton Burrows dune system to the north, Instow across the estuary to the east, and the Skern mudflats and Northam Burrows to the south. The estuary holds nationally important numbers of wintering wildfowl and waders, including wigeon, teal, pintail, brent geese, curlew, golden plover, dunlin and oystercatcher, alongside spoonbill, little egret and hunting peregrines.
Appledore's lifeboat station
The dominant fixed structure at the launch is Appledore's RNLI lifeboat station, immediately beside the slip. The station was rebuilt in 2001, its ground floor facing the slipway with covered accommodation for the inshore lifeboat, a D-class boarding boat and their launch tractors, while the all-weather lifeboat is kept on a mooring offshore because it does not fit inside.
The all-weather boat changed in 2026: a Shannon-class lifeboat arrived on station on 1 May, chosen partly because it can operate in shallower water and get out over the Bar more easily at low tide, replacing the Tamar-class lifeboat previously moored here.
Nearby
Outdoor activity centre on the Appledore shore of the estuary with camping, glamping and campervan pitches, open to individual public bookings as well as group residentials.
WebsiteConditions to check
Entry to and exit from the estuary crosses the Bideford Bar, a sandbank at the mouth that is exposed at low water.
Much of the Taw-Torridge estuary, around 100 square kilometres, dries at low water, exposing sandbanks and mudflats.
SourceThe estuary mouth is a working waterway: commercial cargo ships call at New Quay, Appledore, alongside fishing boats, the Appledore-Instow foot ferry and moored craft.
SourceAppledore RNLI launches its inshore lifeboat and D-class boarding boat from the slip beside this point, and moors its all-weather lifeboat on the estuary off the end of Irsha Street.
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