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Photographs,
information, and places of interest, in and around the town of Watchet in West
Somerset.
Part of the splendid hands-on Watchet
Boat Museum in the ancient port town of Watchet, West
Somerset
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Watchet is a harbour town
in the county of Somerset. Watchet is situated 15 miles north-west
of Taunton, and 9 miles east of Minehead. The town lies at the mouth
of the Washford River on the Bristol Channel, and on the edge of
Exmoor National Park.
It is widely believed that Watchet was a settled community when the Saxons arrived in the
680's to make the place one of their strongholds. Among other
attributes, it was a Saxon mint and coins from Watchet have been
found in Scandinavian hordes proving the interest of Viking
pirates in this part of the coast. From the Norman conquest,
Watchet emerged as a small but vital port serving the surrounding
countryside and providing a link with Wales over the water.
The medieval town still crouches alongside the Washford River as
it drives past several old mills to the harbour, once important
for trade with Ireland, Wales and Europe. The harbour remains the
focus of the town; today as a busy Marina and boat-yard but in
Victoria's time a centre for exporting thousands of tons of iron
ore from the Brendon Hills to the furnaces of South Wales in
fleets of sturdy coastal sailing vessels.
Coleridge was familiar with
Watchet and a bronze of the 'Ancient Mariner' commemorates his
poem on the Esplanade. Also to be seen there is another fine
bronze of the well known shantyman Yankee Jack, popular with
everyone, in his day as a renowned seaman and today as a friend to
all who pose with him for their photographs to be
taken.
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Watchet Museum is a
museum in the tradition of the many small local museums that used
to exist all over the country but have now either vanished or been
taken over by larger concerns. Watchet Museum retains its
identity, character and individuality, with its very local
flavour. The recently updated photographic archive is excellently
lit and presented to make it easily available to all.
Trains and boats are still very
much a part of a day out in Watchet and the attractive shops and
galleries make Watchet a good day out for all the family and a
fairly lively place to live.
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Pubs in the Watchet area: Anchor Inn; Bell Inn; Esplanade Club;
London Inn; Star
Inn; White Horse Inn
Restaurants, cafes,
and tea rooms in Watchet:
Helliker's Tea Rooms
Local places of
interest: Cleeve
Abbey;
Kilton Wayfarers Church;
Quantock Common;
Watchet Museum;
West
Somerset Railway
Nearby towns and
villages: Bicknoller; Blue
Anchor;
Carhampton;
Crowcombe;
Dunster;
Minehead;
Nether Stowey;
Over Stowey;
Roadwater;
Sampford Brett;
Stogumber;
Triscombe;
Washford;
West Bagborough;
West
Quantoxhead;
Williton
Leave a Comment
on Watchet
Glimpses
of Watchet
Sometimes I touch
A place half seen
And hidden in remembrances
Of times long
Drowned in yesterdays.
It catches me in
Light across Ben's cottage wall
And in the sound of
Water as it tumbles
To the beach against
A languid tide.
Just here the gulls are
Choking out their
Staccato cries and
Little wisps of cloud
Run frightened
Up Cleeve Hill.
My father brought me here
Long years ago
And lifted me
To gaze down from the wall
To catch at water shadows
As they bounced and jumped between
the stones.
Sometimes, just sometimes
It all comes back to me,
Still.
©
John Gilman
2010
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