Isle of Wight, England

Newtown River put-in, Western Haven

Launch — A large concrete ramp on Hamstead Point, at the western side of Western Haven; a visiting dinghy sailing club recorded it as "a very unusual, large concrete ramp that leads down into the water". It gives a firm surface into the water where much of the surrounding shoreline is soft mud.

Parking — The National Trust's Newtown visitor point car park, paid via the JustPark app; National Trust members park free by registering their membership in the app. The Trust asks paddlers to unload at Cassey Bridge rather than park there, and to use the car park for the full stay.

Access — Reached on foot from the National Trust car park via Town Lane and Cassey Bridge, where paddlers are asked to unload but not park. Paddlers must bring their own equipment, as none is available to hire on site, and are asked to be experienced and confident paddling on sheltered water. Launching and landing are restricted to the slipway and other marked landing places.

Regulations — Newtown Harbour is part of Newtown National Nature Reserve and a Site of Special Scientific Interest covering 619 hectares of estuary, mudflat and saltmarsh, notified in 1951; a marked conservation zone within it is closed to all access to protect nesting and wintering birds. The Newtown Harbour Master (01983 531424) holds jurisdiction over the water. Neither the Harbour Master nor the National Trust publishes a specific licence, permit or launch fee for unpowered craft.

Western Haven is one of the tidal creeks that fan out from Newtown River, the sheltered, bar-built harbour on the Isle of Wight's north-west coast between Yarmouth and Cowes. The Solent connects to the estuary through a narrow, shallow entrance about three-quarters of a mile east of Hamstead Point, opening into a maze of muddy creeks, saltmarsh and ancient meadows that make up the wider Newtown National Nature Reserve.

The slipway and the wider estuary

The slipway is a large concrete ramp on Hamstead Point, at the western side of Western Haven; a visiting dinghy sailing club recorded it as "a very unusual, large concrete ramp that leads down into the water". It gives a firm surface into the water where much of the surrounding shoreline is soft mud.

Newtown River is not a single channel but a network of tidal arms which the National Trust and older maps still call "lakes": Western Haven, Clamerkin Lake, Corf Lake, Causeway Lake, Shalfleet Lake, Spur Lake and Ningwood Lake, reaching inland behind a narrow entrance from the Solent. Wintering seabirds are the reserve's main ecological interest, drawn to the saltmarsh, ancient meadows and mudflats that together support a number of rare species.

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Newtown National Nature Reserve Visitor Point

National Trust kiosk at the reserve's main visitor point on Town Lane, Newtown, PO30 4PA, offering tea and coffee for a donation alongside toilets; no OSM element found for it, so no coordinates are given.

Website

Camp Wight

A public, bookable campsite and glamping site off Ningwood Hill, taking tent camping as well as pre-erected accommodation.

Website

Conditions to check

Tidal flow

The entrance channel has a bar across it and needs care: strong cross-tides and a fair flow of water in and out of the channel at mid-tide.

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Shallow or rocky

Much of the estuary dries to mudflats at low water, and the National Trust warns that hazardous tides, currents and soft mud away from the marked landing places can pose a safety risk.

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Boat traffic

Mooring buoys are laid in the main channel and in Clamerkin Lake for visiting yachts, with boat traffic heaviest during the summer sailing season.

Source

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