Polly Steps slipway
Polly Steps is one of Teignmouth's two designated public trailer-launch sites, run by Teignbridge District Council on the Teign Estuary shore just upriver of the town's working harbour and docks, opposite Shaldon across the water. The estuary is the tidal final stretch of the River Teign below Newton Abbot, crossed by Shaldon Bridge and dominated by a large mid-channel bank that dries at low water.
The Teign Estuary at Teignmouth
At low water the estuary's central channel narrows around The Salty, a large drying bank that reduces most of the water to a comparatively narrow channel, and the spans of Shaldon Bridge crossing it stand dry for about four hours around low tide. Downstream, the estuary narrows again to the harbour mouth between The Ness headland on the Shaldon side and Den Point, where Teignmouth Harbour Commission records spring tidal streams reaching four to five knots and a shifting, dredged bar meets Channel swell; the bar's position can shift within a few hours in fresh or strong onshore winds, particularly during winter.
Teignmouth is a working harbour, used regularly by commercial shipping and fishing boats alongside the Teignmouth-Shaldon passenger ferry, and the harbour authority asks paddlers to keep clear of the shipping channel, moorings in flowing water, the RNLI lifeboat slipway and the ferry landing, and to keep a listening watch on VHF Channel 12. The estuary carries no statutory nature designation at this reach, though the harbour authority's own code asks paddlers not to disturb local wildlife and sensitive areas.
Nearby
Cafe on Northumberland Place in Teignmouth town centre, about 600 metres from the slipway.
Cafe on Bank Street in Teignmouth town centre, about 650 metres from the slipway.
Working farm campsite in Shaldon taking tents and motorhomes nightly and touring caravans seasonally (Easter to end of September) by advance booking; reached via Shaldon Bridge, across the estuary from the slipway.
WebsiteConditions to check
Tidal streams in the harbour entrance, between the Lucette Light and Den Point, can reach 4 to 5 knots on spring tides.
SourceA large drying bank, The Salty, dominates the estuary and reduces the area that remains afloat at low tide to a comparatively narrow channel.
SourceThe harbour entrance bar's position can shift within a few hours during fresh or strong onshore winds, particularly in winter, when the dredged channel's depth (approximately 0 to 2.0 metres below chart datum) can also reduce.
SourceThe spans of Shaldon Bridge over the estuary's central drying bank stand dry for about four hours around low water.
Teignmouth is a working harbour used regularly by commercial shipping and fishing boats; Teignmouth Harbour Commission's paddleboarding code of conduct asks paddlers to keep clear of the shipping channel, moorings in flowing water, the RNLI slipway, the ferry landing and commercial boat operators.
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