Minehead
May 26, 2019
The photos are mainly of Watchet Marina, but the Harbour Master, Craig Butler looks after everything along this piece of coast except the Marina! .
We have now entered true Bristol Channel country.... with huge tidal ranges and a lot of mud. Minehead, where Craig is a fisherman and runs a fishing tackle shop, has a tiny drying harbour with a Mid Tide post half way down the beach. So regardless of whether the tide is Neap or Spring, the post always clears at half tide. Why doesn't every harbour have one of these?!
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Minehead is famous for the herring that are caught in gill nets close the shore during October November and December. But Craig's most unusual job as HM is pulling people out of the mud - using planks to reach them - 7 people just over the Easter weekend.
Watchet has a long seafaring history, illustrated by the huge harbour walls. 200ft ships used to visit the drying harbour. Now the friendly marina is an important staging port for yachts, however as you can see MUD MUD GLORIOUS MUD is a real problem.
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When the marina was built (having been leased out to a private company for a 100 years by the council) the river which "sluiced" the mud out of harbour was diverted. Since then the mud has built up, and clearing it is an ongoing problem as you can see. I do hope for the sake of the super-friendly staff at the marina, that a solution is found.
PS my friend Mark had a lovely time enjoying the railway heritage of Watchet... as you can see by the mural we found!
We have now entered true Bristol Channel country.... with huge tidal ranges and a lot of mud. Minehead, where Craig is a fisherman and runs a fishing tackle shop, has a tiny drying harbour with a Mid Tide post half way down the beach. So regardless of whether the tide is Neap or Spring, the post always clears at half tide. Why doesn't every harbour have one of these?!
.
Minehead is famous for the herring that are caught in gill nets close the shore during October November and December. But Craig's most unusual job as HM is pulling people out of the mud - using planks to reach them - 7 people just over the Easter weekend.
Watchet has a long seafaring history, illustrated by the huge harbour walls. 200ft ships used to visit the drying harbour. Now the friendly marina is an important staging port for yachts, however as you can see MUD MUD GLORIOUS MUD is a real problem.
.
When the marina was built (having been leased out to a private company for a 100 years by the council) the river which "sluiced" the mud out of harbour was diverted. Since then the mud has built up, and clearing it is an ongoing problem as you can see. I do hope for the sake of the super-friendly staff at the marina, that a solution is found.
PS my friend Mark had a lovely time enjoying the railway heritage of Watchet... as you can see by the mural we found!