The 2o22 event is on Saturday 13th August – click here 

2022 Portishead Salt Marshes Day Saturday 13th August

The 2021 Portishead Salt Marshes Day

 The 2022 event is on Saturday 13th August  2021 Portishead Salt Marshes Day is on Saturday August 14th. It is a celebration of our salt marshes. We have two salt marshes locally, one by the Lake Grounds at Battery Point and the other at Portbury Wharf. They are designated Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because they are such important conservation areas. Home to increasingly threatened species, such as the curlew, they are surprisingly biodiverse and bio-abundant. They are also extremely valuable carbon sinks that help combat global warming.

The Friends of Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve, a local community group, and Plover Rovers are organising the event. Plover Rovers are a science communication charity focussing on bringing marine science and coastal communities together. Also on hand will be Curlew Action, a charity working to save the curlew from extinction. They will be telling us what we can do to help this iconic wader.

Where is Portishead Salt Marshes Day taking place?

The event will take place alongside the path between Portishead Marina and Portbury Wharf Nature Reserve between 11.00am – 5.00pm.

The What3Word location is https://w3w.co/wonderfully.forwarded.balconies

This is not too far away from the Eat Portishead Festival the other side of the marina. So  come and learn about our salt marshes then grab a bite to eat!

What’s happening?

There will be a storyteller with tales from the salt marsh as well as a number of talks:

Mathilde Braddock, geologist, will tell you how Portishead and the Sahara desert are linked in her talk “Beneath the marsh, a hot desert. . .”. Times of Mathilde’s talk are 12.00 and 15.00.

Mary Colwell is a writer, producer, environmentalist, founder of Curlew Action and chair of the Curlew Recovery Partnership. Mary will talk about Saving the Curlew. The time of Mary’s talk is 14.00.

Scott Xavi Gudrich, MSc MA MemMBA MAIEnvSc, is a marine biologist. Scott will explain the important part that salt marshes play in burying carbon in his talk “Salt marshes – the super forests of the coast”. Did you know that salt marshes are even better at removing harmful carbon from our environment than rain forests?  Times of Scott’s talk are 11.15 and 16.15.

Here is the timetable:

Hands-on science and art?

Hands-on science

Ever wondered what wading birds look for in the mud? Then why not try your hand at mud sampling to find out?  The creatures in the mud are vital for the survival of the wildlife here.

Hands-on art and Salt Marshes Day art exhibition

Are you feeling creative and want to show your love for our salt marshes? We are inviting people to send us sketches or paintings inspired by the salt marsh.  You can find out more on our Call for Salt Marsh Art.

There will also be an opportunity for creative hands to help build a mud monster out of clay.

As a community group of volunteers we couldn’t organise this day without funding.

So we would like to thank Portishead Town Council for awarding us a grant. Not only will this grant help to fund this event but most of the items purchased can be used for future events too.

Great things happen when community works together!

So come along on Saturday 14th August to learn all about your local salt marshes.

They are full of surprises!

And finally we have created a whole new salt marshes section on this website. There is lots of fascinating information here . . . and more to come as this page is still work in progress.

Here is the link to our new salt marsh index