WALKING AROUND CLEVEDON PILL
My first gallery contains photos of Clevedon Pill and the sea wall.
These photos were taken recently on a chilly afternoon in February. This is a popular
walk for many Clevedonians, particularly dog walkers. The walk takes you along the
Bristol Channel coast in the general direction of Weston-super-Mare, although it is not currently possible to walk all the way. The route actually takes you over and through Clevedon's flood defences.
Many non-locals may know one or two facts about Clevedon. The Victorian pier is
probably one of the most photographed landmarks in the south west. Local
Facebook groups often feature one or two new examples every day. I'll almost
certainly bore you with some of my own efforts in a later post.
Clevedon has also recently become well known as one of the main locations for the popular ITV series 'Broadchurch'.
Another often quoted fact about this stretch of coastline is that is has the second
highest tidal range in the world. (The highest tidal range is in the Bay of Fundy in
eastern Canada, trivia fans. That is if Mr Google is to be trusted).
The high tidal range ensures that this walk is always varied and interesting. There are
often many varieties of wading birds to be spotted; most of which I can't identify. On
this walk there were apparently many whimbrels pottering about?
The flood defences comprise the Land Yeo outfall and the Blind Yeo sluice. These
are connected by a raised footpath known as Marshalls Bank. The last serious
flooding in this area was in December 1981. The flood defences were refurbished
between 2004 and 2006. So far, it seems to be working.
If you're interested, you can read more here.
The coastal walk starts at the Land Yeo outfall, and takes you along Marshalls Bank
towards the Blind Yeo sluices. Here you pass Clevedon Pill with its collection of
moored small boats. 'Pill' apparently means 'inlet' or 'creek'. As you can see, the
boats are marooned on the mud at low tide.
From the Blind Yeo sluices, a path leads you to the sea wall. This path crosses the
popular Royal Strode golf course. You're well advised to keep your wits about you
here, as some of the golfers are, shall we say, erratic. I've seen golf balls on the
shoreline, perhaps 100 yards off target!
From here you reach the sea wall. The path takes you onwards in the general
direction of Kingston Seymour and Weston-super-Mare, although, sadly, your
progress is eventually halted by impassable private farmland.
The views across the Severn Estuary towards Wales are stunning, particularly at low
tide. Most of the photos in my gallery were shot here. In general, I tend to shoot
towards the sun. This tends to produce, for me, the most satisfying, if unpredictable
results.
This is one of my favourite walks for taking photos. The walk is easy and level. There are plenty of pools for dogs to splash around in, and it's also good if you're a collector of driftwood.
Enjoy the spring weather.
Trev