The second Somerset & Exmoor Coastal Festival includes a walking challenge of up to 80 miles in eight days. The idea is that I will discover Somerset’s overlooked yet unique coastline. I am unable to attend the dates, but I have decided to hire a e-bike instead and explore the region on two wheels.
It’s only a two-hour train ride from London to Weston-Super-Mare, and I’ve already arranged for my e-bike to be delivered to the station. Brean is only 45 minutes away, but a torrential rainstorm scuppers my plans. Instead, I cadge a ride with the owner of a bike company who drops me and my bike off at my bed and breakfast. After lunch, it stops raining and the sun comes out.
Brean Down
Brean Down, a dramatic limestone promontory, juts one and a quarter miles into the Bristol Channel. I ride along a coast road, and at the end of the beach am confronted with rugged cliffs reaching up to 100m. The steep track is challenging, but the e-bike makes it easier. The views from the top are spectacular. I can see Weston-Super-Mare across the bay and the Somerset Levels to the south.
The area is part of a National Trust managed nature reserve. It is home to rare plants, animals and butterflies, including kestrels and peregrine flcons. The rain has made everything green, even though the autumn leaves have begun to turn. I continue along the track until I reach the far end. In the distance, the ruins from the Victorian Brean Fort are visible.
This was built as part Britain’s coastal defenses in the 1860s to protect ports on the Bristol Channel. It served as a gun battery and a lookout during both World Wars. Now, all that is left is a shell. Still, it is a very atmospheric place, with panoramic views over the Somerset coastline, Welsh mountains, and twin islands of Steep Holm, and Flat Holm.
Burnham-on-Sea
The next day, I’m heading to Burnham-on-Sea. The newly opened King Charles III Coastal Path runs along the beach. Seven miles of sand are one of the longest in the UK, and the second largest in the world. The sea is far out, but rushes across the sand during high tide.
I have a few hours to spare, so I choose Berrow Beach. Here, the SS Nornen, a Norwegian ship that ran aground, is still a haunting sight. It’s an amazing feeling to cycle across the firm sand while avoiding dogs and their owners. Berrow Dunes, a local nature preserve that runs along the edge of a beach, is home to many different flowering plant species.
Burnham buildings are visible in the distance. I pass the lighthouse which is a striking structure of red and white standing on wooden stilts. The sea is approaching and I ride underneath the pier – one of the shortest piers in Britain – looking for a way off the beach. The water is already rushing along the bottom slipway as I steer onto dry land.
The trail then follows the prom, before turning inland to follow the banks of the River Brue. It continues south to Bridgewater just before Highbridge but I have a lunch at Rich’s Cider Farm. Gordon Rich began pressing apples in 1954, and his third-generation family continues to run the business. They have expanded and now 80% of the apples they use come from other orchards around the area. The cider production is staggering at half a million litres annually and they now export to Thailand.
After a hearty carvery meal washed down by a glass or two of their vintage cider I make my cross-country way back to Brean. It takes me past Brent Knoll (one of the few mountains in this flat region) before taking me back to Brean. Now that the tide is out, I can walk for miles on a sandy beach.
