The circular walk around the top of Brean Down has this week been named as one of the UK’s top ten walks by a national newspaper.
The Guardian has been running a series of articles about the country’s best places for hikers to pull on their walking boots.
This week, it named the three mile walk around the top of the Down – from Brean Cove to the wartime fort and back – as number nine on its list of ten top National Trust walks.
Robert Stephens, a warden for the National Trust, which oversees Brean Down, explains why the walk has been chosen in the top ten.
“Brean Down is a towering coastal peninsula nearly 100 metres high jutting out into the Bristol Channel.”
“The Down gives exhilarating views of the Bristol Channel, Mendips, Somerset Levels, Quantocks and South Wales.”
“Fossilised creatures such as arctic foxes, reindeer and horses have been found in the sedimentary layers.”
“Walking to the end of the Down is my favourite part of the walk where the Victorian Fort slips into view, and descends towards a very lively sea, creating violent rip tides. Go on a windy day when you can blow all the cobwebs away!”
The other walks making the top ten include Morte Point in Devon, North Antrim in Northern Ireland, Ringmore in South Devon, Penbryn Beach in Ceredigion, Blakeney Freshes in Norfolk, Orford Ness in Suffolk, Craster to Low Newton in Northumberland, and Porthgain to Abereiddy in Pembrokeshire.
