Blue Anchor on the Somerset Coast. "Warm sun and fresh sea-breezes which cannot fail to invigorate."

After a recent visit to Watchet Harbour I decided to follow the Somerset Coast westward along the B3191 to Blue Anchor.  It is a pleasant 3 mile drive, through a scenic, rural and occasionally wooded landscape, which climbs out of Watchet and then down to Blue Anchor.   

In his Somerset (Great Western Railway Company) 1934, Maxwell Fraser writes:

“Blue Anchor, which lies four miles east of Minehead, is an ideal place for a rest-cure. A mere handful of houses; a long sea wall; and miles of magnificent sands; a view of the wooded hill crowned with Conegar Tower, and of the more distant North Hill, which inspired Turner to paint one of his most famous pictures; a combination of warm sun and fresh sea-breezes which cannot fail to invigorate – that is Blue Anchor.  If the quietude palls, there is Minehead and its amusements within walking distance, and Taunton within a short journey, but there are sufficient walks in the neighbourhood, filled with beauty and historical associations, to keep the lover of solitude happily occupied for weeks.”

Even with the seemingly inevitable modern caravan park tightly sandwiched between the sea front road and the West Somerset Railway line, Maxwell Fraser’s description of Blue Anchor, written eighty-two years ago, still rings true today.

The view west along the sea front at Blue Anchor.

There is ample parking on the flat straight road which runs along the sea-front.  As an asthmatic, I find it is a very comfortable place to have a lengthy stroll, following the sea wall, while enjoying the view.  With a good pair of binoculars one can see across Blue Anchor Bay and the Bristol Channel to Barry and the Welsh hills.  It was a clear day so I could even see the turbines of a wind farm on the hills beyond Barry.

To the west, toward Minehead, the view is still as Maxwell Fraser described it in the early nineteen thirties.  To the east Flat Holm and Steep Holm were visible.  Weston-super-Mare, Brean Down and, at the western end of the Mendip Hills, Crook Peak were all easily seen with my binoculars on such a fine day.  I could also just glimpse, beyond Quantock’s Head, the block-like structures at Hinkley Point nuclear power site.

The West Somerset Railway line curves inland below Old Cleeve and its Church of St Andrew.

The sound of a steam engine came from the West Somerset Railway’s station at the end of the sea-front road – the road turns inland, over a level crossing, and on to the village of Carhampton on the A39 – so I hurried through the caravan park to catch sight of it.  I was too late, but took some photos of the line as it curves away inland below the village of Old Cleeve.

By the time I headed back to my car it was late afternoon and the tide was coming in.  Several dozen anglers were setting themselves up along the sea wall and beach, a suitable pastime to maintain the “quietude” of Blue Anchor. 

Anglers make themselves comfortable on the sea front at Blue Anchor as the tide comes in.