Yarmouth Harbour Sensory Trail
Next to Yarmouth Sailing Club on The Green is Yarmouth Harbour’s nature Sensory Trail, where children can find out about the Western Yar Estuary, the harbour, and the landscape of the West Wight.
Follow the trail around The Green and see what you can learn.
Mud
Mud, glorious mud! Estuary mud is packed full of tiny creatures that help to keep the estuary healthy and are food themselves for larger creatures such as fish and birds.
Saltmarsh
The saltmarsh is made up of different plants that can survive in the constantly changing conditions and the area provides a valuable place for the estuary’s birds to feed, nest and rest.
Coastal Defence and Sea Level Rise
Coastal defence, such as the breakwater, is important to help protect the harbour from flooding and from predicted sea level rise. Exceptional high tides do bring occasional flooding to Yarmouth and the risk increases when a high spring tide is combined with a storm surge.
The Harbour
Yarmouth has been a settlement since 991 and the ancient harbour has changed a lot over the years. It now supports a variety of commercial, fishing, and leisure vessels and attracts over 100,000 visitors a year.
Landscape
The Western Yar Estuary is an important part of the Island’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The landscape has been shaped by people and their activities over hundreds of years and continues to be used and valued by all who visit.