Blue Anchor

Blue Anchor in West Somerset

Photographs, information, and places of interest, in and around Blue Anchor, in Somerset.

A 4-6-0 steam train from Minehead approaches the level crossing, signal box and station in Blue Anchor, Somerset

Blue Anchor, so named from the Bay by the GWR in 1874 and where the railroad sweeps close to the sea just a few metres from the shingle. The village itself spreads to two settlements at either end of a half mile Esplanade set with railings above the vast sandy beach. A mecca for enthusiastic photographers who come to picture the magnificent sunsets beyond North Hill at Minehead some five miles away down the Channel. Blue Anchor is also well known for its fossils and the lias cliffs that constantly collapse to reveal quantities of colourful alabaster from veins running through the rock. Ideal for kites of every kind. John Gilman

car boot sale in Blue Anchor

Pubs in and around Blue Anchor Bay: The Blue Anchor; Smugglers Inn

Accommodation in the Blue Anchor area: Caravan site; Bed and Breakfast; Chalets

Local restaurants, cafes and tea rooms: Binham Grange; Driftwood Cafe; Home Farm

Some things to do: Car Booting; Sea Fishing, Fossil Hunting, Geocaching. Trainspotting

Local places of interest: The Alabaster cliffs and beach, Cleeve Abbey; Dunster Castle; Halsway Manor; Quantock Common; West Hill; West Somerset Railway

Notable locals: the author and poet John Gilman

Nearby towns and villages: Carhampton, Chapel Cleeve, Dunster, Minehead, Roadwater; Timberscombe; Washford, Watchet, Williton, Wootton Courtenay