Continuing my exploration of local gems along the Somerset coast in South West of England, today I'm going to share my visit to Blue Anchor.
Blue Anchor is a seaside town, in fact I'm not sure what it's famous for, apart for a train station. I was planning to go there after my trip to Watchet the other month but I ran out of time, luckily I made it this time.
ENGLISH BIG BREAKFAST
I arrived late morning, perfect time for a traditional English big breakfast. You can't get more English seaside than this! The Driftwood Cafe faces the seafront and we sat outside, social distancing of course. It was a bit windy as expected by the seaside, but not cold. Although it did mean I had to scoop down my food pretty quick, nothing worse than a cold greasy big fry up!
BLUE ANCHOR STATION
Next stop after big breakfast is the Blue Anchor railway station. This is just around the corner from the Driftwood Cafe. This station is part of the nostalgic West Somerset Railway, a heritage steam engine railway line built in the mid to late 19th century. It runs 22 miles along the idyllic Somerset countryside passing through 10 stations. Blue Anchor station was built in 1870 and is the 8th or 3rd station depending on which direction you travel from.
When Blue Anchor Station first opened, there was only one track that pass by, and hence only one platform. That's the one on the right in the image below. It faces the sea.
Then in 1904 the railway line expanded, a second track was added and another platform was built opposite the first one. It included a signal box, that's the red brick building by the road, and a ticketing office / waiting room. Unforunately due to Covid, the station was closed and I couldn't get inside. That's such a pity as I know they've converted the waiting room into a small musuem now and it contains lot of information about the region's railway lines.
THE LEVEL CROSSING
The signal box plays an important role at Blue Anchor because of the level crossing. The road besides the station is quite busy as all the local trafic passes by. In particularly you can't see very well round this bend which is where I had my big breakfast just now. Even during my visit, when the railway line wasn't in operation, I still had to be really careful standing by the side of the road taking photos, and crossing the road to the other side. The occasional cars came zooming down from one end as it was quite a straight stretch, then you had the other cars coming round the bend where you couldn't see very well.
The things I do for a few more upvotes to produce better quality content on Hive, it's all worth it!!!! 😃
There was a small depot next to the level crossing opposite the station. I could see a locomotive inside and wanted to get a closer look. There was just a slight problem, there's a do not trespass or you could be prosucuted sign by the entrance. In my need to produce higher quality content for more upvotes spirit, I decided to venture in. After all, they're hardly going to prosecute me for taking a few photos!!!
Actually, I didn't go much futher in eventually, as there's a guy cutting the grass inside and I didn't want any trouble. The locomotive looked a bit tired, I don't know if it was resting or retired, and it wasn't exactly a very pretty one. Time to move on.
THE BEACH
Before I headed off, I went for a little walk on the beach, my car was just parked by the beach anyway. Like most of the other beaches around this region, such as Kilve Beach which I posted about previously,beachs are pebbles rather than sand. Blue Anchor beach was no different, and it was also quite muddy, another characteristic of the local beaches. You can't walk for too long on these beaches unless you have comfortable walking shoes, which I didn't. I did spend enough time to breath is some nice crisp cool sea breeze, it felt really nice and refreshing.
Till next time, bye!!!
By the way, here's a close shot of the pebbles on the beach. I really like this image and it reminds me of those computer screen savers. In fact I might post it on the Stock Image community.
Last and not the least, due to Covid, the West Somerset Railway has stopped running now which is a bit of a pity for railway fanatics. But if you do happen to be in the region in future, I think this will be a nice train journey to do. The entire journey takes 1.5 hours and tickets cost £28 per adult or £68 per family (2 adults and 2 under 17). You'll get 8% discount if you book in advance saving you a few pennies.
