We refer to “Salcombe Harbour” but Salcombe is not, of course, the largest town on the water. Kingsbridge is over twice the size of Salcombe, if not so close to the sea or so accessible at all states of the tide.
Much has been done in recent years to encourage visitors to the harbour to include a trip to Kingsbridge. There are lots of reasons for this: Kingsbridge is an interesting market town in its own right; it provides plenty to do on a rough day when you can’t go to sea; and the journey itself, up through the nature reserve, the site of special scientific importance and the quietest part of the harbour, has an appeal all of its own. You are also likely to see interesting birds, including perhaps, at certain times of year, an osprey.
The Harbour Board has done its bit by installing a visitor pontoon on the quay, near the car park, and will soon be replacing the quayside moorings with pontoons along the whole of the west side of the creek. And, as regular readers will know, it is expected that the Kingsbridge basin will be dredged soon.
Kingsbridge is silting up, partly because that is the way of the world and partly, it is thought, because last time the basin was dredged, a small ledge was left which stops the basin flushing out with the tide and taking silt with it. Injection dredging will be used both to lower the level of the channel and to remove this unhelpful ledge. But the dredgers will be careful to “drop” the silt on the mud flats outside Gerston and not let it flow on down to Salcombe or out to sea. That is Natural England’s preferred option. In this way, any pollution (if there is any) will stay inside the harbour.
The Harbour Guide now encourages harbour users to visit Kingsbridge when the tide is right. Keeping to the 6 knot limit to the Saltstone, and 8 knots north of it, the whole trip takes less an hour from Salcombe, or you can use the now more frequent Rivermaid. It’s a pleasant outing for lunch or dinner, or a little shopping. If you want to extend the trip, and you still have enough tide, sweep in a visit to Frogmore en route. You can do a lot in the harbour without going out to sea or the more crowded southern part.
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