The Yealm is a

river A river is a natural flowing watercourse, usually freshwater, flowing towards an ocean, sea, lake or another river. In some cases, a river flows into the ground and becomes dry at the end of its course without reaching another body of ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon i ...

in England that rises above sea level on the Stall Moor mires of south Dartmoor and travels to the sea, passing through

Cornwood Cornwood is a village and civil parish in the South Hams in Devon, England. The parish has a population of 988. The village is part of the electoral ward called ''Cornwood'' and Sparkwell. The ward population at the 2011 census was 2,321. ...

, Lee Mill and

Yealmpton Yealmpton () is a village and civil parish in the English county of Devon. It is located in the South Hams on the A379 Plymouth to Kingsbridge road and is about from Plymouth. Its name derives from the River Yealm that flows through the vill ...

, a mid-sized village with a population of c.2,000 which is its largest settlement, before reaching its estuary which forms a

ria A ria (; gl, ría) is a coastal inlet formed by the partial submergence of an unglaciated river valley. It is a drowned river valley that remains open to the sea. Definitions Typically rias have a dendritic, treelike outline although they ...

bounded on its western side by

Wembury Wembury is a village on the south coast of Devon, England, very close to Plymouth Sound. Wembury is located south of Plymouth. Wembury is also the name of the peninsula in which the village is situated. The village lies in the administrative dis ...

. A deep inlet of this ria forms the waterfront to

Newton Ferrers Newton Ferrers is a village and former manor and ecclesiastical parish in the English county of Devon; it is now in the civil parish of Newton and Noss. It is situated on a creek of the River Yealm estuary, about south-east of the City of Pl ...

and Noss Mayo on its eastern side.

Harbour

The harbour authority is made up of representatives from the civil parish councils of Wembury,

Brixton Brixton is a district in south London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. Brixton experienced a rapid rise in population during the 19th centu ...

and "Newton and Noss".

Neighbouring catchment areas

It is the river and estuary between the

River Plym The River Plym is a river in Devon, England. It runs from Dartmoor in the centre of the county southwest to meet the River Meavy, then south towards Plymouth Sound. The river is popular with canoeists, and the Plym Valley Railway runs alongsid ...

which discharges at

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymou ...

and the River Erme which discharges by Meadowsfoot Beach, Mothecombe in

Holbeton Holbeton is a civil parish and village located 9 miles south east of Plymouth in the South Hams district of Devon, England. At the 2001 census the parish had a population of 579, down from 850 in 1901. By 2011 it had increased to 619. The south ...

parish.Grid square map

Ordnance survey Ordnance Survey (OS) is the national mapping agency for Great Britain. The agency's name indicates its original military purpose (see ordnance and surveying), which was to map Scotland in the wake of the Jacobite rising of 1745. There was ...

website

History

This short river once supported relatively large stocks of

salmon Salmon () is the common name for several commercially important species of euryhaline ray-finned fish from the family Salmonidae, which are native to tributaries of the North Atlantic (genus ''Salmo'') and North Pacific (genus '' Oncorhync ...

sea trout Sea trout is the common name usually applied to anadromous (sea-run) forms of brown trout (''Salmo trutta''), and is often referred to as ''Salmo trutta'' morpha ''trutta''. Other names for anadromous brown trout are sewin ( Wales), peel or pea ...

and

brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

trout but their populations have dwindled since the 1940s.

Aquatic life

The River Yealm may have lost some of this stock of the most-eaten fish in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and No ...

, but it has managed to retain other important species: it remains a key conservation area. The river acts as a bass hatchery. The Yealm is a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and ap ...

(SAC), and a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle o ...

(SSSI) chiefly for supporting many protected species. Cockles and wild

oysters Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

can be found on the shore at low tide in the right season. The Yealm estuary has a large suitable

oyster bed Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

, a portion of which has long been in active use. The fertility of the foodstuff for oysters in estuaries relates to the environment given to this foodstuff, phytoplankton, which can double its numbers/mass every 24 hours with ideal freshwater and marine nutrients, but nude microscopic

algae Algae (; singular alga ) is an informal term for a large and diverse group of photosynthetic eukaryotic organisms. It is a polyphyletic grouping that includes species from multiple distinct clades. Included organisms range from unicellular m ...

in some locations multiply so quickly they can exhaust all the available plant nutrients and they return to dormancy. Here, the River Yealm and its estuary incoming flows keep a well-matched balance, such that the freshwater and seawater mix is in approximately ideal proportions. Also the necessary phytoplankton are not all washed out to sea here at

neap tide Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables can ...

s. Not all South Devon estuaries share these features: e.g. the large

Kingsbridge Estuary The Kingsbridge Estuary (also, erroneously, known as the 'Salcombe Estuary') in the South Hams area of Devon, England runs from Kingsbridge in the north to its mouth at the English Channel near Salcombe and lies between Bolt Head and Sharpitor t ...

beside

Salcombe Salcombe is a popular resort town in the South Hams district of Devon, south west England. The town is close to the mouth of the Kingsbridge Estuary, mostly built on the steep west side of the estuary. It lies within the South Devon Area ...

, receives too little fresh-water while others, like the Dart receive too much for ideal shellfish production rates. River Yealm near Puslinch - 295494

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yealm Rivers of Devon Dartmoor