Editing Instow (section)

==Instow Beach==
[[File:Instow Beach overlooking River Torridge.jpg|left|thumb|100x80px|Instow Beach, overlooking River Torridge and [[A39 road|A39]] [[Torridge Bridge]] ]]
Instow Beach also known as Instow Sands, is used widely during summer months at the peak of the tourist season. The beach is suitable for families as it enjoys few waves because of the sandbanks at the mouth of the estuary cancelling out most of the ocean swell.  However, bathing water quality has regularly failed Environment Agency mandatory standards over the last few decades.<ref>{{cite web| title = Bathing water quality| url = http://environment.data.gov.uk/lab/bwq-info.html?_search=ins&site=ukk4304-34000| archive-url = https://archive.today/20121224004026/http://environment.data.gov.uk/lab/bwq-info.html?_search=ins&site=ukk4304-34000| url-status = dead| archive-date = 24 December 2012| work = Environment Agency| date = 15 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title =  Instow Beach Bathing Water Profile| url =  http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/bwprofiles/BW_34000_Instow.pdf| work =  Environment Agency| date =  February 2011| url-status =  dead| archive-url =  https://web.archive.org/web/20121216094416/http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/static/documents/bwprofiles/BW_34000_Instow.pdf| archive-date =  16 December 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Elliott |first1=Valerie |title=One in eight beaches polluted by flood sewage |work=The Times |issue=69099 |date=24 August 2007 |page=27|issn=0140-0460}}</ref>

There is a large number of boats anchored on the sand. Many are only accessible at low-tide or via a [[dinghy]] or what is locally known as a tender. Windsurfing and kite surfing have become popular, taking advantage of the open position and calm waters. Canoeing and kayaking in the rivers to Instow beach is also popular.<ref>{{cite web |title=Instow Beach {{!}} Visit Devon |url=https://www.visitdevon.info/things-to-do/instow-beach |website=Visitdevon.info |access-date=3 November 2022}}</ref>

===Leading lights===
[[File:Instow Range Rear Light - geograph.org.uk - 942026.jpg|thumb|right|upright|The rear of the two leading lights at Instow]]
In 1820 a pair of [[leading lights]] was established at [[Braunton Burrows]] to help guide vessels entering the Taw Torridge Estuary from [[Bideford Bay]].<ref name="WoodmanWilson">{{cite book |last1=Woodman |first1=Richard |last2=Wilson |first2=Jane |title=The Lighthouses of Trinity House |date=2002 |publisher=Thomas Reed |location=Bradford-on-Avon, Wilts. |page=207}}</ref> Designed by Joseph Nelson, they were known as the Bideford High and Low Lights.<ref name="RC1861">{{cite web | title = Lighthouse management : the report of the Royal Commissioners on Lights, Buoys, and Beacons, 1861, examined and refuted Vol. 2 | pages = 94–95 | url = https://archive.org/stream/lighthousemanage02blak#page/94/mode/2up |website=archive.org}}</ref> When the ground they were on became unstable they were demolished (in 1957) and replaced by a new pair of leading lights at Instow. Initially the rear light was supported on a tubular steel structure (since replaced by a steel lattice structure)<ref name="THInstowRear">{{cite web |title=Instow Rear Lighthouse |url=https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels/instow-rear-lighthouse |website=Trinity House |access-date=28 May 2019}}</ref> and the front light on a wooden structure, which was irreparably damaged in a storm in January 1990 and likewise replaced by a steel lattice tower.<ref name="THInstowFront">{{cite web |title=Instow Front Lighthouse |url=https://www.trinityhouse.co.uk/lighthouses-and-lightvessels/instow-front-lighthouse |website=Trinity House |access-date=28 May 2019}}</ref> Both lights remain operational and are managed by [[Trinity House]].