Gloucestershire, England

Beachley Slipway

Launch — A stone and concrete ramp running down to the estuary at the southern tip of the Beachley peninsula, near the M48 Severn Bridge.

Parking — No dedicated public car park serves the slip. The car park immediately beside it belongs to the Severn Area Rescue Association lifeboat station and is private; the adjoining Old Ferry Inn car park is also privately owned.

Access — Forest of Dean District Council owns the slip freehold and still held it, as public land, in its most recently published property register (January 2024). The council's cabinet resolved in 2011 to keep the slip in council ownership to preserve free public access, after a community campaign against leasing it to a private operator.

Season — Gloucester Harbour Trustees publish an ongoing Notices to Mariners feed covering scheduled surveys, works and channel changes in the estuary; check it before a trip for anything affecting this stretch.

Regulations — There is no published launch fee, permit or registration requirement for unpowered craft at Beachley itself. Vessels on the estuary must follow Gloucester Harbour Trustees' harbour byelaws, including a 12-knot speed limit for powered craft near the Severn Bore. Continuing upstream into the Gloucester and Sharpness Canal via Sharpness Dock needs a Canal & River Trust licence and lockage fee.

Beachley Slipway is a restored stone ramp on the Gloucestershire bank of the Severn Estuary, at the tip of the peninsula where the River Wye joins the Severn near the Severn bridges. It was the Aust car-ferry crossing point before the first Severn road bridge opened in 1966 and now serves paddlers launching informally onto the estuary. The Severn here carries one of the world's largest tidal ranges, so the mudflats and currents around the slip change quickly.

The Severn here carries one of the largest tidal ranges in the world, close to 15 metres at springs, uncovering wide mudflats and rocky platforms on the ebb. This stretch of estuary is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, Special Area of Conservation, Special Protection Area and Ramsar site, holding over 10% of Britain's wintering waterbirds, including internationally important numbers of dunlin, Bewick's swans, white-fronted geese and wigeon.

Paddlers use Beachley as a put-in for trips on the tidal Severn, including crossings toward the Welsh shore. The same ramp is also home to one of the Severn Area Rescue Association's lifeboat stations, one of several the charity's volunteer crews operate along the estuary between here and Sharpness.

Nearby

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Nellie's Coffee Shop

A cafe at Beaufort Park in Chepstow, across the River Wye from the slip via the A48.

Conditions to check

Tidal flow

Flood and ebb tidal streams in the estuary frequently exceed 4 knots.

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Shallow or rocky

Sandbanks such as Saniger Sands shift with the tide and periodically encroach into the main navigation channel, reducing usable depth.

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Shallow or rocky

Water above the M48 bridge can run shallow ahead of high tide, with a risk of grounding on sandbanks.

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Boat traffic

The estuary carries continuous commercial shipping to Sharpness Dock, around 350 to 400 movements a year, plus a regular sand dredger; pilotage is compulsory for vessels of 30 metres or more.

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