Blue Anchor, a hamlet 3 m. E.
of Dunster, with station. There is a pleasant little bay here which
possesses possibilities as a future watering-place, but at present the
accommodation for visitors is extremely limited.
Blue Anchor, a small hamlet clustered around the station, is probably named after the "Blue Anchor Inn", a long established hostelry situated at the east end of the long causeway.
There have been many theories about the origin of the name of the inn, but it is best to call in and ask the landlord!
Before the causeway and road were built, the low-lying fields would have flooded with the higher tides. At the eastern end is a classic cliff exposure dramatically showing the junction of red marls and blue lias rocks.
The Driftwood Cafe, just a few steps from the station and overlooking Blue Anchor Bay with views across the Bristol Channel, offers refreshments including ice creams.
The beach has some sandy areas and some pebbles and although not a classic seaside beach is nevertheless very popular with visitors. At high tide, the causeway is busy with anglers.
As the sweep of the bay stretches away to the west, the remains of early attempts at beach defences can be seen.
One of the best views of Somerset summer sunsets can be seen from Blue Anchor - the railway runs an evening train up from Minehead on summer Wednesdays, the "Sunset Special".
It is suggested that the name came about because the anchors of boats mooring there turn blue.
The cliffs that border
the foreshore are strikingly coloured and are veined with alabaster.
The view towards Minehead is charming. It is said that the sea at very
low water uncovers the remains of a submerged forest.
Blue Anchor
When Blue Anchor station opened in 1874 it had only one platform, now the up side.
The main station building, the only structure there when the line opened, is completely different in design from those at Washford and Dunster.
In 1904 the GWR added the passing loop, down platform and waiting room, signal box and level crossing gates.
The up platform is stone faced and the downside brick faced. Both were lengthened, together with the passing loop towards Taunton, in 1934.
The odd shape of the ladies' room, built in red brick in 1904, is because it follows the boundary of the site.
The waiting shelter between the main building and the ladies' room, constructed in 1989, replaced an earlier one that rotted and became so
dangerous it had to be demolished.
The waiting room and booking office have been lovingly restored, using Great Western fittings, many of them originals to the station.
The Blue Anchor Railway Museum is on the down platform and is housed in the former waiting room, a brick-built structure with a self-supporting canopy.
Opened in 1986 under the auspices of the West Somerset Railway Steam Trust, the first custodians were Peter and Ginny Barnfield of Bristol, who quickly filled the building with a fine collection of railwayana.
The museum is supported by the Friends of Blue Anchor Railway Museum, who help staff the museum and raise cash for new acquistions. Many exhibits are loaned for short or long term, this ensures the museum always has new things to
look at.
This is a quiet and undeveloped coastal village with a
wide sandy beach when the tide recedes.
There is a railway museum at the steam railway station. Home Farm is a working farm open to visitors on the seafront.
There are good walking opportunities to Dunster and Watchet.
Remains of ancient trees are still found along
the Exmoor coast, although they are eroding fast. The coastline was
listed as a Heritage Coast in 1991. Five or six thousand years ago,
standing here you would have been surrounded by trees
Blue Anchor Bay
Blue Anchor offers a fine beach, and a promenade three quarters of a mile long with a scenic view of Minehead Bay and the hills beyond, across to Exmoor.
It has alabaster rocks to the east and cliffs of geological interest. Blue Anchor has a number of caravan sites, and there is a station at which West Somerset Railway steam trains stop. It is a popular place with sea anglers who fish from the promenade.
Blue Anchor Bay
Home Farm is a small working farm where pigs are the main enterprise, having a herd of Oxford Sandy and Black pigs. Other animals include sheep, goats and a selection of ducks and poultry, also donkeys and ponies. The hands on Farm Trail is a delight for both children and adults.
A view of the shore showing tilted strata on the surface. There are also fragments of a bone bed to be found on the shore. These contain fossil teeth, scales and bones of marine vertebrates which are all very small. A tooth measuring about 1/4 inch could be considered large.
The beach was used as a film set for The Shark
This picture shows a distinct fault in the cliffs, at the east end of the bay, showing the red sandstone of late Triassic age against the blue shales of the Lower Jurassic. A small gully has formed between the two caused by erosion along the fault line
The name Blue Anchor derives from the Blue Lias rock that lies beneath the beach
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