Brean Beach & Brean Down

[@grumpyoleman2152]

Again some beautiful shots of extremely interesting locales. Thanks for braving the winds and rain to bring them to us! Take care.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it. It is a rather spectacular location with much of interest. Take care, Paul 🙂👍

[@malcolmrichardson3881]

What a wonderful sandy expanse! That's the kind of beach which makes you want to run and keep running, even if you're a bit long in the tooth, like me! there's nothing quite as invigorating as a strong wind, even a cold wind, as long as you are properly attired.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thanks Malcolm! Yes, it wasn't so much the wind that prevented me from exploring further but the very icy rain - rather unpleasant! I will return to explore the fort another day because it looks really interesting. Thanks again, take care, Paul 👍

[@dianeparry1260]

Thank you Paul. My sons holiday in Brean and I join them for an afternoon sometimes. It was lovely to see the downs as I mostly see the beach with them and their families. You braved that weather very well. 😊😊

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Diane! Glad you enjoyed it - I had only vague knowledge previously of this location, despite growing up just 55 miles away. It was my first visit here, and I was very impressed with the geology, the views and that expansive beach! Thanks again, take care, Paul.

[@TheWrightLifeTravelChannel]

What a great place to explore!

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you! Yes, that beach was certainly wild and windswept. Cheers, Paul.

[@johnsparkes8963]

Another place i would like to visit hopefully on a calmer day that you had Paul. Very enjoyable video to watch. Thank you for sharing take care Paul.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you so much John! Glad you enjoyed it. Take care, Paul 🙂👍

[@faithg9766]

What a wild & wonderful place. Loved seeing the sea rushing in. The sunset photos were great.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Faith! Glad you enjoyed it. I particularly enjoyed my wander around Burnham eating some chips and watching the sunset at the end of the day!

[@michaelpilling9659]

Hello Paul - greetings from Poland. That was wonderful! Thanks so much for all your hard work in producing this superb video. Nothing beats sea and sand and this sand is enormous. The climb up the Down gave us some spectacular views. What a shame the weather changed forcing you to abandon your plans. Another spectacular set of still photographs. Your camera work was brilliant as was the geology lesson too. See you again very soon. Stay safe please

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you so much Michael! That is very kind of you. Yes, I hope to revisit that fort on a better day. I had heard of Brean, yet, despite it being only 55 miles away from where I grew up, I had never been there before. I could believe the size of that beach. Nor, the drama of the views from the top of the Down. Thanks again, take care, Paul 🙂👍

[@harrybrown3657]

I've never seen Brean look so good ☺

[@westcountrywanderings]

I was very surprised just how big the beach was! The biggest beach in Somerset for sure. Thanks for watching and commenting 👍

[@IamaDutch-Kiwi]

What a lovely piece of coastline. Amazing views from above Paul. I'm a keen beach walker when I get the chance. This beach looks very inviting. Very interesting and enjoyable content again Paul. It's what you continue to deliver thank you. Enjoy the rest of the week. 🌷🇳🇿🙋‍♀🇳🇱👌

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you so much! I try and visit and wander in the less well known places in the region of England that I cover - to be honest, there are just so many, I can't see myself ever running out of them! I just need enough time (and money) to get there, time to film (and edit) and good weather. Thanks for watching and supporting the channel. It is very much appreciated. Take care, Paul 🙂👍

[@royedwards8713]

Hi Paul nice video ive been having holidays in brean for many years its a nice place 👌👌

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Roy! It was my first ever visit - I couldn't believe the size of the beach! Very windy though. Take care, Paul 👍

[@NaomisAdventures]

Beautiful place

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it 😊

[@SouthWestSundays]

Lol, so windy there! I lost my first ever microphone dead kitten near to Brean beach in Burnham on sea! Loved the sand writing! Great idea to try to see it from up high! I have seen Brean Fort before starting my channel. I think I have photos of me looking very wind blown there! Lovely sunset photos at the end!

[@westcountrywanderings]

Oh, yes, I remember that! I have lost a couple now too - I usually have one or two spares now. It seems to be an eternally windy spot. Thanks for your comments about the photos - the light in Burnham that evening was simply amazing! I will have to go back and explore the fort another time. Take care, Paul 🙂👍

[@geoffreystevens663]

In P.E. Barnes' 1920s book 'Unbeaten Tracks of the West' he suggests that it was from Brean Down that the Romans made their final departure from Britain. Terrific images you caught there. Thanks again

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you Geoffrey! Yes, Brean beach certainly has plenty of space to load ships although the mud flats could make things rather tricky. Thanks for the Roman connection mention - I was not aware of that. Take care, Paul 👍

[@JessesGrandDaysOut]

One of my strongest memories of Brean is how windy it gets so it was rather odd when I was there at the weekend when it was replaced with a more gentle breeze. I feel it's the kind of beach that can be so busy yet the nearest person feels miles away. North Somerset Council have won their appeal to buy Birnbeck Pier from the private owner so it should be back in council hands by the end of the year with plans to restore it.

[@westcountrywanderings]

So good to hear that the Council have won the appeal to take control and start preserving Birnbeck Pier. I have many happy memories of walking along it in the early 1980s with my grandmother. Glad you had a gentle breeze there at the weekend! Great to hear from you again Jesse and good luck with your KZbin channel too. Take care, Paul 🙂👍

[@cathydyer3774]

Thanks Paul. I especially enjoyed the warmer / sunnier bit on the beach and maybe I should do a caravan break there one day. That would be so good for me to walk up those steps 😊.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Yes, the weather certainly dramatically changed that day Cathy! For the better, then for the much worse, then finished in a spectacular sunset! It is an amazing beach, but, perhaps, not the best foreshore, as it is the Bristol Channel, and not the English Channel, nor the Atlantic Ocean. It is a very invigorating place though! The steps are well worth the effort for those amazing views! Thanks Cathy, take care, Paul.

[@cathydyer3774]

😊

[@TedCarolCollins]

Considering the windy conditions your microphone did it's job well. Have fond memories of Brean Beach seating our children on my lap in the car enabling them to pretend to drive along the miles of sand.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Ah brilliant! Yes, I use a Rode Video Go shotgun mic with a 'Dead Cat' - it usually handles wind quite well. I used the wireless mic too for when I was further away from the camera - I had to tweak the audio on that mic though in post production. I had never been to Brean before - I had no idea that it had such a huge beach. Thanks again Ted, take care, Paul 👍🙂

[@AliceGoss]

Filming in the wind. Oh dear. At least it wasn't raining, which is what happens to me. Stunning coastline and one which I didn't know about and one of the more interesting in the area.

[@westcountrywanderings]

Yes, I always yearn for near perfect conditions for filming! Alas, that's rarely possible 😞 . Yes, I have seen a few of your rainy videos - it can't be helped. But, it never dampens (ahem!) the interest or the quality. I had to abandon the fort exploration due to the sideways pincer like icy rain combined with the near gale force wind on the top of the Down. Thanks for watching and commenting Alice - it is greatly appreciated. Take care, Paul 👍

[@dianarolph1770]

I have never been to Brean and always fancied going but,,,,, that was Easter and I was wondering where the tourists were - it was deserted, that beautiful wide expanse of beach and then I realised that the wind was blowing a hooley! And by the look of the stunted trees all bent over it’s a common occurrence- so it put me off visiting especially seeing you sheltering within the rocks on the beach. I compared it to that lovely quiet Cornish beach you visited earlier this year. It was beautifully photographed and the geology was interesting but I just can’t take fierce wind. Thanks

[@westcountrywanderings]

Yes, I know exactly what you mean Diana! Unfortunately it was so severe and, coupled with the icicles hitting me in the face I had to abandon further exploration. The fort will have to wait for another day. I have another beach one planned shortly - I am hoping that the weather will be a little kinder then! Most of the holiday makers were in and around the camps - a lot had 'no vacancy' signs up, but very few were venturing onto the beach!! Thanks again, take care, Paul 👍

[@davidberlanny3308]

Hi Paul, bracing doesn’t seem to be the right word!! You worked your way round the weather perfectly - it didn’t spoil the video at all, in fact it shows it as it is. Thanks for adding in the geological details really interesting. Just up the road from me we have a quarry which is extracting material from a black dolomite outcrop for the building industry (and this on the edge of the National Park). I had a quick look at carboniferous limestone as well amazing that this outcrop should be the furthest south although there is more over Kent way but well below the surface which is logical given the coal mining there. I always have a look at my AA book on your coastal trips and two things came up, one was the café near the down also has a tropical bird aviary, that is if they haven’t all been blown away!! The other is that just inland there is a little village called Eastertown, quite appropriate for your Easter visit!! That beach looked enormous and maybe treacherous at low tide. It’s a shame you couldn’t get to the hill fort, it was on the Palmerston Follies on Portsdown hill that I did my first explores with my dad 50 years or so ago!! Great video, well done and good luck from Spain!!

[@westcountrywanderings]

Thank you David! Glad you enjoyed it. Yes, I hope to return to visit the fort at some point - it wasn't the wind that forced me back, but the icy rain and hailstones! Yes, Plymouth Sound is surrounded by Palmerston Forts> I don't know if you saw it, but one of my Railway Series videos talks and shows one of these Palmerston Forts in Cornwall that was served by a military railway - a fascinating, little (and steep!) railway line. It seemed such an odd location for an aviary/bird park there next to the blustery Down - I don't know the history of how it came to be there. Thanks again, Take care, Paul.

[@davidberlanny3308]

@@westcountrywanderings I guess all the import ports got surrounded by forts especially the naval ones like Pymouth, Portsmouth and Chatham. They also built 4 seaforts in the Solent to defend Portsmouth, eventually one was restored, Spitbank Fort, and served as a musuem and special events. I think they are all now in private hands and very exclusive. Its a shame because most people will see them from the shore and wonder what is there just as I did as a young boy. I was lucky as I got to visit several times ....... just remembered I think they appeared on Dr Who and the Sea Devils!! I look forward to seeing the cornwall Palmerston Fort video, I will get there eventually!! Interesting that you mention the railway serving it, only recently I discovered that there was also a light railway built for the construction of the forst of Portsdown Hill, practically nothing remains of it but it has been documented by the Palmerston Fort Soceity and is on railmaps but practically nothing remains on the ground, still one for me to film next time I go back!! Have a great week and good luck from Spain!!

[@westcountrywanderings]

@@davidberlanny3308 thank you for a very interesting comment. Yes, I think that the forts were built expecting a second Napoleonic war in the 1870s but (thankfully) none saw action, although some were repurposed for use in WW2 and some around Plymouth are still used as training bases by the military. Hope you have a great weekend David! Take care, Paul 🙂👍