As you breathe a sigh of relief, having made the perilous journey through Bristol en-route to the South-West, you may be forgiven for wanting to get some distance on the M5 corridor through the Mendips and therefore in the process ignoring what may lie on the coast to your right (perhaps apart from Weston Supernightmare).
However if you have time to spare, a small gem lies up the coast from the charming seaside town of Burnham on Sea (off Junction 22, more of which in a later blog) on a spit of land, thrusting out into the muddy waters of the Bristol Channel. Its furthest point, Howe Rock pointing towards the isle of Steep Holm.
Composed of a mile and a quarter chunk of Carboniferous Limestone, Brean Down marks the furthest western tip of the Mendip hill range, the Down itself being a SSSI, home to rare plants such as the inconspicuous Dwarf Sedge existing alongside a variety of wildlife including Meadow Brown butterflies.
First thought to have settlers about half a million years ago, the Down has a rich history, the defences of the first Hill Fort being constructed about 300 BC with the Roman Armies taking over in Britain in AD 43.
Throughout the Middle Ages, little changed on the Down however in the mid 1800’s there had been talk of a harbour being built at Brean to act as a port for crossing the Atlantic, but the scheme was abandoned in 1868 after much wrangling and expense.
The main interest however on the Down is the derelict Victorian Fort. Nestling on the Southern-Westerly tip of the peninsula, the Fort was built alongside numerous other stations around the south coast as the naval military strength of France grew in the late 1850s under Napoleon III. These Forts were known as Palmerston Forts the name coming from their association with Lord Palmerston, Prime Minister at the time who promoted the idea.
However the works were also known as Palmerston's Follies as, by the time they were completed, the threat (if it had ever existed) had passed, largely due to the Franco-Prussian war of 1870, and furthermore the technology of the guns had become out-of-date. They were the most costly and extensive system of fixed defences undertaken in Britain in peacetime.
After a short ramble over the down, we approached the Fort over a dry moat on the landward side, noting the barrack quarters on the left, which could hold 50 men while the officers' quarters and admin offices were to the right. We made good use of their privacy, as my trousers were falling down and I needed the loan of my girlfriends (pink) belt.
One clothing malfunction and repair later, we made our way over to the barracks, where a scared looking woman stood at the head of darkened stairwell, frightened to proceed into the Stygian gloom. Well I couldn’t turn chicken in front of a couple of spooked ladies could I? So fag lighter in hand, the three of us proceeded down the tight stairwell, into the dark for which seemed like ages until we reached an underground bunker, full of clutter. Unfortunately at that point my lighter had enough and packed up and we were left in the pitch-black underground room.
Trying to get back up the stairs in total darkness with two hysterical women clinging to you is no laughing matter I can tell you!
Back in the light, I left my partner to calm down and relax in the spring sunshine while I went round the Fort merrily snapping away, trying to capture the mood of the place. I hope I managed this, to a certain degree, as although in all seriousness the place was built with intentions to defend and enter conflict, even see loss of lives, there is a lighter side to Brean Down Fort, more of which later.
I managed to locate the three main gun positions, three guns faced West, three faced Northwest and one faced North, yet no shots were ever fired in action, but regular drill and gunnery practice was part of the regular routine. The garrisons were part of the Coast Brigade, Royal Artillery and could be enforced with volunteer’s forces from both sides of the Bristol Channel. On the whole, though, life was very quiet at the Fort.
The only tragic loss of life occurred at 5am on July 6, 1900 when the Fort was rocked by a huge explosion causing the death of one soldier, Gunner Haines, who had fired his carbine down the shaft of a ventilator into No. 3 magazine, beneath the western gun positions. Huge damage was done, with the wall separating the Fort from the moat on the south-west corner being demolished and wreckage thrown up to 200 yards. No one knew why the gunner had blown up the Fort. But it was a fatal blow as it was quickly closed down and the cannons hauled away by traction engines.
Following this terminal act, between 1905 and 1939 the Fort became a cafe but at the start of World War II it was re-armed with two 6-inch naval guns from Cardiff and two searchlight batteries.
The best stories however are saved for last and trump anything Captain Mainwaring and Company could ever mess up, as even Dad’s Army had nothing on the bonkers shenanigans that proved to be the Forts last hurrah…
The Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD), known colloquially as the Wheezers and Dodgers, was a department of the Admiralty responsible for the development of various unconventional weapons during World War II. They were responsible for a number of devices of varying practicality and success, many of which were based on solid fuel rocket propulsion.
Several experimental weapons were trialled at Brean Down Fort, some of the better known weapons trialled being the seaborne Bouncing bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target such as across water to avoid, Anti-submarine missile AMUCK and the expendable acoustic emitter (designed to confuse noise seeking torpedoes).
Perhaps the most infamous experiment however involved a short rail track, which was built pointing out towards sea and ending at a set of buffers (see last picture)
A so-called bomb was mounted on a six-hundredweight trolley propelled at 200mph along the track by 12 powerful rockets. The aim was to propel the trolley at high speed into buffers with the impact having the effect of flinging the bomb far out to sea. However the whole lot, trolley, buffers and all, actually went flying off into the Channel, then did a sharp right and came back inland into a local farmer's chicken run!
Although I can’t really say that there is much to actually do there apart from explore the former garrison, the views over the Bristol Channel more than make up for this. Be sure to walk back to the beach on the northern side of the Down to take in the wind swept Hawthorn trees, hopefully illuminated by the setting sun as you head off for a well deserved ice cream. Brean Down Fort, as craptastic as you are, we salute you!
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