An Afternoon on Brean Beach and a Morning at The Lighthouse on the Beach
It was early in January 2022 and with relatively mild weather conditions we decided to explore the north Somerset Coastline between Burnham and Weston Super Mare. It is a fantastic sandy beach stretching several miles and some of it is firm enough for cars to park and horses to be excercised.
There were two reasons for our visit. Firstly we wanted to walk to the wreck of the ship SS Nornen which was washed up on the shores on Berrow beach 125 years ago. All that's left are the bones of the fine old vessel but it made for an interesting focal point to our route. A check on Google will give the history.
The second was that I have been reading some books from the crime series written by Damien Boyd and in one book, Head in The Sand, the murder scene is set on the golf course and church, and I wanted to see it for myself.
If you want to know more about the The DI Nick Dixon Crime Series then check out the author's website https://www.damienboyd.com/. At the time of writing these notes there is a picture of the wreck on the home page of Damien's site.
Steep Holm is a privately owned island in the Bristol Channel and is managed by a small group of Trustees. It lies about five miles (8 km) offshore from the seaside resort of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset.
Visit the website for further information
https://www.visit-westonsupermare.com/things-to-do/steepholm-p1541643
The church of St Mary’s on the beach/golf course at Brean is a building with stature and a footpath which leads to the beach running past its front door.
The church above the bush thicket at the start of the sandy beach. The standalone peak of Brent Knoll is in the background too.
Looking in the opposite direction to the photo above is this splendid view towards Steep Holm with Wales behind.
The first view of the wreck.
A wonderful place to walk and walk and walk..
Question. What sits on a beach and is sometimes submerged, has 9 legs and Saves Lives?
Answer The lighthouse on the beach at Burnham on Sea and part of the Brean sandy beach which stretches 7 miles.
This nine-legged wooden lighthouse was built in 1832 and is a Grade II Heritage listed structure. Burnham-On-Sea lighthouse was also named on a list of the world’s top 10 most beautiful lighthouses in 2014.
This is a well known landmark and we set ourselves the challenge of photographing the lighthouse from all angles, not just the obvious side chosen by thousands of other photographers over the years.
Hey Ken, I no sooner focus on the lighthouse than it uses its 9 legs to move down the beach!
Thank you for looking. I hope you have enjoyed it. Ken
You have probably seen enough images of the beach and lighthouse but after a session with my mentor, Adrian Beasley, I have revisited two photographs to convert them into black and white and crop them to create more focused pictures.
I Hope you like the alterations too.