National Nature Reserve Steart Village Bridgwater Bay Estuarine mudflats Steart Gate Enjoy this amazing place but please respect other car park Parrett Trail visitors and the guidance given on the signs and marker posts. Horseriders, use the designated bridleways and keep Estuarine mudflats Welcome to to the verge of the surfaced paths. Please keep your dog under close control or on a lead. Steart Marshes Some paths are permissive and may be closed from time to time to protect wildlife. Steart Marshes Breach In the event of a major problem please ring Coastal marsh map information 07717 505966 or, in an emergency, 999 l Working in partnership with Grazing marsh Pylons WWT Main Polden hide car park Steart Drove Estuarine mudflats Wetland Saltmarsh walkway Mendip hide Stockland Marsh Public footpath and Grazing marsh permissive cycle path River Parrett Arable & wild Stockland Bristol bird mix Public bridleway Flower rich grassland Otterhampton Marshes Accessible path Coastal marsh for pedestrians and wheelchairs Parrett Trail Bird hide Permissive footpath Otterhampton View point and/or camera point Arable & wild bird mix Please wash your hands as all animals can 1 kilometre Parrett Trail Working in partnership with carry diseases i Combwich The Steart landscape i Useful information Help us protect the wildlife here What’s happening here? i How big? The tidal area is almost 3km in length and over We need you! 1km wide – from end to end, it takes about an hour to walk Our coastline is constantly changing. We’re To manage the site and welcome visitors, we need volunteers working here to help form special new habitats i Admission is FREE with a range of skills. Are you interested in any of the following? for wildlife, improve flood management for local Open all year round: Car parks and paths for walkers, Practical management people and provide an amazing place to visit. This cyclists and horse riders, subject to a few local restrictions new piece of wild Britain is one of WWT’s wetlands Open 9am-4.30pm: hides and toilets, with a few seasonal Recording wildlife working for both people and wildlife. extensions to these times Talking to visitors i Dogs are welcome but keep them under close control, clean If you are, please contact us. Arthur Chapman up poo and please take it away with you! You can also support WWT’s work by joining as a member little egret i Paths: Follow way-marking to new fine-surfaced paths, and as an added bonus gain free entry to all of our wetland allowing access on foot, some by wheelchair and most by centres across the UK. What to see bike. There is a also new circular bridleway i Benches and view points: discover these around the site Over time, look out for dramatic changes to this landscape. Once tides wash over the land, and fresh i Binoculars are useful to bring to help you view the landscape water areas develop, some plants die back and other i Tide times: remember the rising tide along the Severn plants and animals adapted to living in different Estuary rapidly covers great distances. Watch this great Sacha Dench/WWT conditions begin to colonise. Come back to WWT natural process from safe vantage points here. Look up local Steart from the air Steart Marshes to see the changes as they happen. tide times to help plan your visit As sea levels rise, earth and shingle banks protecting the i Photography: fixed points for placing your camera peninsula become vulnerable to erosion and more difficult to Highlights throughout the year are dotted around the site maintain. Elsewhere on the Severn Estuary, important wetland Juha Soininen Wetland walkway. Specially designed to lead you from the car i Fancy a cuppa? There’s no cafe on site, but it’s an ideal water vole habitats are being lost. park to the viewing area through new wetlands and across new i artist’s impressions picnic spot. To purchase refreshments, follow signs to the WWT and the Environment Agency paths, bridges and decking. larger local villages and towns Before Contact us are turning this situation into a positive Wide open landscape views from the main observation points i Please take your litter home and try not to disturb the solution. In front of new flood banks, (marked on the map). Get all-round views of the Poldens, animals and plants living here WWT Steart Marshes, Stert Drove, Bridgwater, Somerset, TA5 2PU large areas of saltmarsh are being Mendips, Brecon Beacons, Exmoor and Quantocks. T: 01278 651090 or 07717 505966 created as the tide enters through a breach in the former defences. Breach point. It’s up to an hour’s walk from the car park - so For the latest wildlife news, visit steart.wwt.org.uk Saltmarsh absorbs wave energy, make sure you see it at its best on a big ‘spring’ tide. providing long term natural protection @WWTSteart wwtsteartmarshes/ from erosion and new wetland habitats After Wildlife highlights in summer on a massive scale. The developing Birds such as little egret, lapwing, swallow and skylark. In late Taken photos? Spotted anything unusual? Post on WWT’s marsh, with shifting channels and summer, thousands of roosting shelduck too. Twitter or Facebook pages. We would love to hear from you. creeks, also provides a vital refuge for Many dragonflies such as black-tailed skimmer and emperor. wetland wildlife and is an important nursery for fish. Plants such as flowering rush and purple loosestrife. In some areas, newly created fresh Wildlife highlights in winter water grazing marshes, also important for wetland wildlife, are designed to help protect local properties from flooding Birds such as teal, wigeon, peregrine, golden plover and Freeman/WWT Adam Caiden Mike WWT stands for the Wildfowl & Wetlands Trust. Our charity’s mission is to work together to save wetlands for wildlife and people. Our vision is that society values, by temporarily holding and storing water after heavy rain. meadow pipit. long walks at Steart redshank and lapwing protects and manages wetlands to sustain wildlife, people and the planet. Cover image: Shelduck. WWT WWT reg charity, Eng & Wales, no. 1030884 and Scotland no. SC039410.