Devon, England

Noss Mayo slipway, Newton Creek

Launch — A ramp-and-steps landing at Baring Point, with a beach smooth down to the low water mark and limited facilities for securing tenders; it also serves as the Noss Mayo terminus of the seasonal foot ferry to Newton Ferrers and Wembury.

Parking — There is no parking at Wide Slip itself. The nearest options are free parking in Noss Mayo village, where the Parish Council warns that cars left on Noss Hard flood with the tide, or the National Trust's Warren car park, free for members and chargeable for other visitors.

Access — Reached only on foot, along the coast path from Noss Mayo village; there is no vehicle access to the landing itself, and no gate, barrier or permit-holder restriction on foot access.

Season — The Harbour Authority's launch charge for unpowered craft applies from 1 April to 30 September, and RYHA staff patrol the river across the same months into October. Newton Creek and the wider river also host the River Yealm Regatta's rowing and sailing races each July and August.

Regulations — Launching or landing a kayak, canoe or paddleboard anywhere north and east of a line through Misery Point, which includes Newton Creek, requires payment of a charge to the River Yealm Harbour Authority, and craft may not be left on the foreshore. Anchoring is restricted to Cellar Bay; elsewhere on the water, craft must use a mooring buoy or pontoon, and a 6-knot speed limit with a minimum-wash requirement applies throughout the harbour.

Newton Creek is a narrow tidal arm of the River Yealm estuary in the South Hams, running between Noss Mayo and Newton Ferrers before opening into the wider estuary and the sea at Wembury Bay. It lies within the Plymouth Sound and Estuaries Special Area of Conservation, and Wide Slip is the public landing on the creek's south bank at Noss Mayo.

Newton Creek

Wide Slip sits at Baring Point, close to where the creek meets the wider Pool. At low tide, Newton Creek can be crossed on foot at the Voss causeway between Noss Mayo and Newton Ferrers. Upstream, the Yealm continues north through a steep, wooded valley to its tidal limit; downstream, past Misery Point, the estuary opens to the sandbar and Bar Buoy at its mouth, around a mile away, before reaching Wembury Bay and the sea.

The estuary is part of the Plymouth Sound and Estuaries Special Area of Conservation and a Site of Special Scientific Interest, with fine sands and eelgrass beds recorded at the Yealm's entrance and a role as a bass nursery; the harbour authority asks water users to avoid grounding on or disturbing the seagrass meadows. Wooded, National Trust-owned slopes overlook the creek, seals are sometimes seen along this stretch of coast, and the Mewstone is visible off the harbour mouth to the west.

Nearby

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The Green

Deli-cafe on Parsonage Road in Newton Ferrers, on the opposite bank of the creek from Wide Slip; reaching it means crossing by the seasonal ferry or the tidal Voss causeway rather than a direct walk.

Website

Brixton Caravan and Camping Park

Open to the public year-round for tents, caravans and motorhomes, about 2.7 miles from the launch by road.

Website

Conditions to check

Tidal flow

There may be up to 2 knots of current at various states of the tide.

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Limited exit

Newton Creek dries out at low water and can be crossed on foot via the tidal Voss causeway between Noss Mayo and Newton Ferrers.

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Shallow or rocky

At the harbour entrance, about a mile downstream, the Spit dries to 1.4 metres and Cellar Bay can have as little as 0.9 metres of water on spring tides.

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Boat traffic

The river is busy with boats of all sizes during the summer.

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Boat traffic

Wide Slip is also a working ferry landing; craft left there should not obstruct ferry passengers boarding or leaving.

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