Devon, England

Topsham Lock Cottage put-in (Exeter)

Launch — A slipway at the Topsham end of the Goat Walk, a very narrow riverside path running immediately alongside the water with a 1-2 metre drop to the beach and no rail; the final slope down to the water is fairly steep here and can be muddy and slippery.

Parking — The nearest public car parks are Exeter City Council's Holman Way and Topsham Quay car parks, both pay and display with no height restriction; Topsham Quay also reserves free spaces for blue badge holders.

Access — Reached on foot only, via The Strand or the Goat Walk from Bowling Green Road; there's no vehicle access to the slipway, no gate or barrier, and no published opening hours or booking requirement. Harbour authority guidance confirms that paddleboarders' and kayakers' access to the river and canal will not change.

Season — The Topsham foot ferry, which crosses the river close to the launch, does not run to a fixed year-round timetable: the operator publishes short-notice weekly hours and cancels crossings for weather or staffing.

Regulations — Exeter City Council is the statutory harbour authority for the Exe Estuary and the Exeter Ship Canal. Its Navigation Byelaws set a 10 knot speed limit and require craft to be navigated with due care, with a maximum penalty of £1000. Council guidance states there are currently no plans to charge kayakers or paddleboarders to use the river or canal. The whole estuary is a Site of Special Scientific Interest and Special Protection Area for its wintering birds, and the Exe Water Users' Code asks all water users, including paddlers, to keep 100 metres from birds and, where practical, to avoid activity within two hours of high tide between September and March.

This slipway is on the Exe Estuary at Topsham's Goat Walk, the riverside path along the town's waterfront looking out over the tidal river towards Exminster Marshes. Topsham sits on the estuary's east bank, just north of the River Clyst confluence. The estuary runs some 12 kilometres from its harbour mouth at Pole Sands to Countess Wear, with a further 3 kilometres on to Exeter, and is protected from the open sea by the natural sand spits of Dawlish Warren and Pole Sands.

At low tide, around two thirds of the estuary's water area dries out into sandbanks, mudflats and eelgrass beds, so what is open water at high tide becomes exposed mud within a few hours.

On the opposite, west bank sits RSPB Exminster Marshes: this land was part of the estuary until the Exeter Ship Canal was built in the 19th century, and it is now wintering ground for flocks of geese, ducks and waders.

A little further upstream on that west bank stands Topsham Lock Cottage, by the entrance lock built in 1832 to give the Exeter Ship Canal a direct connection to Topsham; the council's foot ferry lands here, opposite the Goat Walk.

Nearby

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Route 2 Cafe Bar

Cafe and bar on Monmouth Hill, near Topsham Quay, around half a mile from the slipway.

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Conditions to check

Tidal flow

The estuary dries extensively above the Exeter Ship Canal entrance, where the river 'virtually dries out, and will have to be tackled on the rising tide'; Topsham itself is nearly five miles from the river mouth and dries for large periods of the tide.

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Shallow or rocky

The foreshore here dries to soft mud at low water, so the slipway is usable only around the higher part of the tide.

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Boat traffic

The estuary carries around 1,900 moorings, with activity concentrated between late March and early October; Topsham Sailing Club works this reach, and a council foot ferry crosses the river close to the launch.

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