On Monday, Sheila and Dave and I thought we would go visit a much-advertised gardens near here, Hestercombe Gardens. But there was an accident that snarled up the M-5 and, after sitting in traffic on the side roads, we decided to go to Brean Down instead. (We did make it to Hestercombe the next day.)
No, Brean Down is not a racetrack and it also isn't "down"--it's a promontory that is 520' high above sea level and juts out 1.5 miles into the Bristol Channel. The Down has been used for defence since pre-Roman times. In modern times, a fort was built in 1859 that first guarded the coast against the French and then in the last two world wars against the Nazis. Marconi also used the Down for some of his early wireless transmissions.
When we first arrived the sky was quite overcast but after we climbed the 100+ steps up the side of the Down, the weather began to clear. It was still quite windy, however, as you'll see from some of the photos.
Starting off along the path, Sheila, Dave and the dogs. The signs warned that dogs should be kept on the lead because at least one dog a month is lost over the cliff edge.
Looking down at the beach on the left side of the promontory. To the left is a large caravan park. The English (and Scots) like to go caravanning to the beach in the summer.
Looking down below the right side of the promontory. You can see how strong the winds are by the way that the trees have grown. That's Weston-super-Mare across the beach.
One of the lookout positions belonging to the old fort.
Me fooling around. Rightyho, sir! I won't fall asleep! That's the wind and not styling gel whipping my hair back.
Sleepwalking could prove fatal.
What remains of the fort.
The Brits tested out a few secret weapons here during WWII. The track that you see in the photo was for the "bouncing bomb". The idea was that a trolley was to take the bomb down the track and when it reached the end, launch it into the air. A new idea on the catapult? Anyway, the problem was that trolley travelled too fast, burst into flames and the whole lot went over the edge and into the sea. I think they gave up on that idea and then moved on to the "expendable noisemaker" rocket that unfortunately acted like a boomerang. No more news about further testing.
Once again the wind is whipping what there is of my hair around. Daisy wanted to see over the wall. Ummm, I don't think so. Don't want to have dog overboard.
The sun came out as we were walking back. You could almost think that was the Mediterranean coast. It's a huge beach with very high tides, some of the highest in the world Dave said. This was low tide however.
Daisy wasn't sure which way to go since Sheila was behind us taking a photo.
Weston-super-Mare in the sun.
And the walk ends in brilliant sunshine.
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