Brean Down

The dialect word ‘groaningdrink' (pronounced groa'neen-dring) 'refers to ale or cider brewed in readiness for childbirth!

This trail has plenty of history specific to Brean Down however Somerset folklore in general can be fascinating, especially from our present day perspective.

‘Snail, snail, put out your horn
We want some rain to grow our corn,
Out Horn Out.'

(Clevedon 1920s)

This was the rain dance of Somerset in years gone by. Snails were allegedly gifted not only to foretell the weather, but to summon it too, as if you were to sing this rhyme and tap gently upon the shell of the snail (like raindrops) then she might put out her tentacles and summon the rains for your crops as requested!

Butterflies are prolific here on the down, chalkhill blues, dark green fritillary and brown argus along with grayling and marbled whites. We recommend a Brean Down butterfly walk with a specialist guide to help you identify and name.

Though insects today are in much decline, it was believed in Somerset that white moths were the wandering souls of unchristened children. It was also thought that the first moth of the year should be chased away unless you wanted to be haunted all year long.

Toads were especially potent for curing ailments like warts, wear a live one in a silk bag around your neck until it expired and the wart would die along with it. Spiders too were no slouch when put to work in healing, for curing the damp shivering sickness of the ague.

‘ A spider cures ague. Shut one in a box until he do curly up' (1900 - Brean)

So next time we have a prolonged dry spell, perhaps try the snail charm and let us know if it works and post the results on the Storywalks Facebook Page

The dialect word ‘ragrowteering' means exploring out over the moor or romping, so we are all ragrowteering today!

This part of the coast has a history of invasion, by both sea and people. The Romans, some of the earliest human invaders, also built the first defences to stop the encroachment of the sea. As you look back down to the car park and along the coast, with Brent Knoll the most prominent part of the landscape, you realise how easy it is for the sea here to rise up over the land. Historically, some marine floods have reached 20 miles inland which is as far as Glastonbury.

During the early Roman period (AD 43–200) a channel, known as the Siger ran from the Brue Valley just to the south of Brent Knoll. The area between the River Severn and Burtle, the land you can see now, was saltmarsh. Despite the Romans' best efforts at building coastal defences, it seems likely that the area still flooded at times and after the Romans left, many settlements were abandoned until the 11th century.

The image of the cowrie shell with compass embedded was a popular lucky charm for sailors, and would enable him as well as his soul to find his way home. More broadly, cats were also believed by sailors to be very lucky and to have one on the vessel could calm wild oceans plus be handy to predict the coming weathers. If a cat approached a sailor on deck that was good luck, but if they only approached half way then turned back, then that was not a good omen.

If a cat licked its fur against the grain then a terrible hail storm was imminent, but if it licked its fur with the grain then rain was on its way. Polydactyl cats were highly prized too, these are cats with extra toes, as extra digits were thought to aid mousing and stability at sea. But most persistent of all stories are those of the ship's resident cats who unusually decide to abandon the vessel whilst in harbour after many years not leaving the ship. The crew, unable to find their mascot, would set sail in anguish as without their feline guide they knew they would quite likely be lost at sea.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘pumplefoot' (pronounced puum'pl veo't) refers to a swollen or club foot and the word ‘plat-vooted' (pronounced plaat'-veot'ud) refers to someone with a shambling gait - i.e. flat footed!

With the Romans gone, Britain was invaded first by the Anglo Saxons, then by the Vikings (Danes). Famously, perhaps infamously, Somerset is where Alfred the Great, king of Wessex, burned cakes when seeking a place of rest after battling the invaders. Alfred began fighting the Danes in 868, when they invaded Mercia, to the east. Three years later they invaded Wessex but made peace, which continued for five years, such was the resistance they had encountered. Then in the late 870s Alfred had to battle them repeatedly.

Eventually, the Vikings took three of the four Anglo Saxon kingdoms and left Alfred, king of the fourth, on the run. Alfred spent the winter of 877-78 in the marshland around Athelney, some 20 miles south of Brean Down. Could he really have felt like a king, as he hid in this fenny, boggy place that was neither truly sea nor land?

But king he was, and Alfred was to use his knowledge of the marshy land and its people to his advantage. The Viking leader Guthram sat at Chippenham, whilst another of his countrymen, Ubba, landed near present-day Lynmouth. Despite all portents in his favour, Ubba was defeated by Odda, ealdorman of Devon. This victory by Devon soldiers gave Alfred the hope he needed. Quietly he confirmed that the other ealdormen and reeves were as loyal to him as Odda. A great battle against Guthram ensued, in which Alfred managed a striking victory. As part of the peace, Guthram was baptised as a Christian. He returned to East Anglia, dying there in 890.

The Somerset dialect word ‘lickerdish' refers to liquorish!

As you walk you'll see that the down has beautiful, far-reaching views across land and sea, from which you could detect almost any approach by friend or foe. It has long been a place of defence and is tipped to the east and the west by forts. At the eastern end lie the remains of an ancient hill fort. Before Alfred, before even the Romans, this hill fort was built by Iron Age inhabitants. Archaeologists still sometimes find worked flints, evidence of long-past ancestors and their lives on this strip of land. Old Man Rock drops down to the sea here where local historians have found both Iron Age and Bronze Age pottery - evidence of the Beaker people and their civilisation.

Iron Age people living here would have found food such as wildfowl, fish and berries and the raw materials needed for shelter, including reeds for thatching. During the summer months they probably grazed their livestock on the saltmarshes. The fort itself seems to have had massive dry stone walls. Archaeologists think it was as much a deterrence against attack as a defence. It announced the status of the inhabitants, showing that they had the ability to see off invaders.

Pictured - pyramidal orchids on the down - Nigel Phillips

The dialect word ‘mumping' is the Somerset word for begging, and Mumping day also known as St Thomas Day and the winter solstice is December 21st. This was the only day that well-to-do folk could go begging without disgrace!

Look down the coast past Brean beach to Berrow Down where the sand curves out of sight. Here the differing plant species have adapted to different zones and conditions. The salt marshes and arid beach tops are host to hardy salt and arid tolerant species, each thriving in their low nutrient niches. Plants with old names like bulbous foxtail, long-stalked orache and slender hare's ear are present. Whereas the lagoons in land, with a little more moisture, are host to the rare Somerset round-headed club-rush.

Further inland are the red fescue grasses (known locally as creeping jenny) and the infamous lady's bedstraw which is often found growing alongside the vipers bugloss, the latter two of these are pictured above. The scented flowers of the lady's bedstraw were once used in place of rennet for cheese making and also lined cupboards to keep the moths and bugs from eating woollens.

Up here on the down in spring you may be witness to a carpet of bluebells, a joy to the eye and a signal that winter is nearly spent. These flowers and bulbs have been used in many different ways over the years, and although it is considered unlucky to bring a sprig into the home, they were once collected in the barrow load to make a thick pungent glue.

In Somerset and neighbouring counties the bluebell is known as fairy bells and the sticky sap from the stem was once used by fletchers to bind feathers to their arrows.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘cocklight' (pronounced kauk-lai't) refers to evening twilight.

This caricature of a mineralogist from the 1830s has a body entirely of rocks which seems appropriate since Brean Down is well studied and known to be formed of a carboniferous limestone ridge. Geologically it is part of the Mendips, although it is separated from them by the mouth of the River Axe. The northern slopes are relatively even and covered with vegetation, whilst the southern side consists of rocky bluffs. It is a limb of land and you can see why, in folklore, it was believed to be part of the body of a giant, along with the islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm.

During the last Ice Age, Somerset was not a welcoming environment. The Levels were ice-covered, leaving the Quantocks, Mendips and Exmoor at the glacial edges. Then, around 12,000 years ago the glaciers receded and the Somerset area became more appealing to settlers. It has been inhabited ever since, and the humans who lived here hunted horses, bovines, elk, reindeer and deer. They used stone for hunting knives and weapon tips, and bone or antler for their hunting spears.

After the Ice Age, the area along the West Somerset coast from Minehead to Brean was marshy, part sea, part land. There was then widespread forest encroachment and on the valley floors more likely shrubs and herbaceous plants. This meant ample forage for large mammals such as aurochs (a now extinct type of wild cattle) deer and pigs. Beavers were present and their dams would have improved conditions for fish and wildfowl in the area.

All along this coastline you can, if you are lucky, find fossil evidence of these changes. Otherwise, if you look carefully at OS maps, you can see areas marked as ‘submarine forest', where once the coast extended further out, and woodland grew where there is now sea.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘changy' (pronounced chau'njee) was used specifically in commenting about the weather and that it was going to change!

The steep cliff and precipitous drops of the southern side of Brean Down contrast nicely with the gentler northern slopes. There, the soils are deeper too containing wind blown sands, a special and rare habitat for cowslip, st john's wort, field scabious and birds-foot trefoil.

But above these cliffs in summer on these southern slopes you may witness the flowering spectacle of the rare white rock rose (pictured). This small plant is not actually a rose at all although the white flower and yellow heart does look a little rose like in appearance. Thankfully it thrives here, but this is one of only two places in the UK where it can be found naturally occuring.

Other rare plants include the dwarf sedge, the late flowering goldilocks and Somerset hair-grass which is unique to Brean Down and the Mendip hills not far inland.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘Bullbeggar' (pronounced beol-bag'ur)was an exclamation referring to a frightful object.

On the very western end of the down you will see the second of the forts - this one is a comparative newcomer at only 150 years old. It is one of the Palmerston forts, named after the Victorian prime minister who championed their building. During the 1850s the British feared the intentions of the French, then ruled by Napoleon III, nephew of the Emperor Napoleon. In 1860, the Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom recommended that the coast be fortified in case of French naval attack. By the time the forts were built, improved relations with France rendered them all but obsolete.

From here you can see the islands Steep Holm and Flat Holm, both of which also have Palmerston forts. The Bristol Channel was truly well defended!

The old Somerset dialect word ‘mazzard' (pronounced maz'urd) was a special variety of black cherry from the west country. The old saying was ‘to pick ‘em you must use both hands and hold on with your nose' hence the remark upon a person with a hooked nose, ‘you have the nose of a mazzard picker!'

As you can see, the site of the fort is quite extensive. Soldiers and their families were expected to live here, so it needed to be. It covers 4 acres, which were requisitioned for building work in 1862. Building was completed in 1870. Sixty men were garrisoned here and the fort was defended by seven 7” rifled muzzle-loading cannon. These were among the last of this type to be made at Woolwich Gun Foundry and were considered out of date when the fort was opened.

In 1909, the author Charles Harper described Brean Down as ‘a sort of miniature Gibraltar'. Just nine years previously the fort suffered substantial damage when a soldier fired his rifle into one of the two underground magazines (rooms in which explosives and arms were kept). Given how careful soldiers had to be when working in these rooms, it is presumed this was a deliberate act and that the soldier intended to kill himself. After this, the fort was decommissioned and the guns sold for scrap.

If you spotted a ‘stranger' (pronounced stran'jur) in your tea, it referred to a floating stalk of tea leaf and was the portent of a new person or visitor to the house. The stalk should then be lifted from the drink and placed wet on the back of your hand, you would then transfer the leaf or stalk to the back of the other hand by dabbing them together. The amount of times it took for the stalk to transfer related to the number of days it would be before the stranger appeared in your life!

Between 1905 and 1939 the fort was used as a cafe. After the outbreak of World War II it was rearmed and used to trial experimental weapons. The square concrete structures date from this period. Notice that while the concrete has weathered well, any metallic structures are showing the adverse effects of salt spray. You can also see a length of launching rail, aimed perilously out from the edge of the cliffs.

Brean Down was ideal for experimental work since it was isolated and provided a training ground for amphibious manoeuvres. The pier at Weston-super-Mare, visible if you look to the north, was requisitioned by the Department of Miscellaneous Weapon Development, AKA the 'Wheezers and Dodgers'. For a time, the Victorian pier from which people had embarked on steamers to Cardiff, Bristol and Lundy, became HMS Birnbeck.

The launch rail was once used in the attempt to develop a naval version of the dam-busting ‘Wallis' bomb that had been dropped from aircraft. A track had initially been laid on the pier but such were the forces involved that it was feared the pier would not survive the experiment. Thus operations were moved to Brean Down. The bomb was not easy to develop and on one occasion the trolley designed to launch it disappeared over the cliff edge in a ball of flame, trailing behind it exploding sand bags and pieces of sheet steel. The war came to an end before the bomb was ever finished.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘thirdle' (pronounced dhuurd-l) refers to a thin or hungry looking animal, but can also apply to crops and people.

In May 1897 Guglielmo Marconi began a series of experiments to see if he could send radio waves over open water. He chose Lavernock point on the Welsh coast, just over 8 miles to the north west of Brean Down. Initially he experimented with sending signals to Flat Holm but on 15 May Marconi had the equipment at Flat Holm dismantled and sent by steamer to Brean Down.

Work continued until the end of May, when Marconi and his team managed to gain good signals, and set a new record for wireless transmission over open sea. Drawings made at the time suggest that kites were simultaneously flown on both sides of the channel with radio wires attached. The image shows Marconi with some key small parts from his pioneering radio equipment.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘Vorenoons' (pronounced voa'urneo'nz) refers to light refreshment in the mid morning - before noon.

Brean down is host to many birds and a great place to come twitching, although it is recommended to be here early before the summer crowds. The brambles and hawthorn to the northern slopes and easterly end of the down seem to harbour more of the unusual ‘spottings' and depending upon what time of year you visit will dictate what birds are present.

Winter is goose and duck time, and great too for spotting oystercatchers, dunlin and even the elusive dartford warbler. In the early spring, kittiwakes can be seen in numbers up to 50 and in high summer you can find both stonechat and rock pipit breeding here. These smaller birds bring in the hunters too (see the illustration above from the late 1800s) like peregrines, sparrow hawks and even merlin.

Later in the year as summer ends and autumn begins willow warblers pass this way feeding and moving south. All in all, there is much to observe but to get the most visit with a guide. The Somerset Wildlife Trust often have expert led tours and citizen science events and are always keen for new faces to show an interest.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘busk' (pronounced buusk) refers to the heckles of a dog.

Anglo-Saxon and medieval fish weirs were abundant in the Severn Estuary. Many used conical baskets of wicker called putchers, placed behind V-shaped arrangements of hurdle panels. These appear to date from the 10th century. Later, in the medieval period, weirs were made of stone, with combined stone and timber traps.

These reflect the fact that fish was an important food source in medieval times. For 6 weeks during Lent and on every Friday the church banned the eating of meat other than fish (although the definition of fish could be flexible and included otters, beavers and even in some places geese). In these waters swim salmon, lampreys, eels and a kind of herring called shad. In the thirteenth century the lampreys became very popular with the crown, with both King John and his successor King Henry III being especially fond of River Severn lamprey giving the fishing trade here quite a boost!

In more recent times, as the second Severn crossing was being built, archaeologists undertook survey work discovering a woven rectangular fish basket dated to around the mid-14th century.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘thief' (pronounced thee'f) refers to a faulty wick in a candle which causes it to burn too fast and be very wasteful.

Until the 1950s it was common practice in rural areas, especially Somerset, to pass beneath the long arching branches of a bramble briar in order to ‘scrape' a disease or malady from an individual. Ailments cured (or attempted to be cured) through this procedure could be anything from a rash to a stutter or even the onset of blindness.

More commonly the ‘scrape' was the choice procedure in Somerset for hernias, whooping cough, boils and rheumatism. The sufferer was required to crawl beneath the arching bramble briar in the same direction as the sun moves across the sky, east to west. The action must of course be repeated for the magical number of times to properly take effect without getting snagged oneself in the process. This might be three times in one go, or over nine consecutive mornings. The remedy was particularly effective if both ends of the bramble were rooted, especially across lands owned by two different people. The theory was that the bramble briar would snag the ailment and so the individual would be finally relieved of the malady.

Perhaps there is an ailment which you need to be relieved of? There are plenty of briar bushes on the down ready to be put to the test but we insist you share a photo of your antics on the Storywalks Facebook Page.

The old seafaring reference of the ‘binnacle list' refers to an inventory of ships crew who are too sick to report for duty.

You are now standing at Fiddler's Point [ST2959]. In maritime folklore, fiddler's green is a place where a fiddle never stops playing and dancers never tire. It was also believed to be the afterlife for long-serving sailors. It is perhaps now best known from the 1966 song Fiddler's Green, written by John Conolly.

Although we cannot be certain, given the location of Fiddler's Point it seems likely that the name is linked to this mythology.

Looking towards Weston-super-Mare the image above was taken on the beach around 1900s and depicts a sand sculpture of a soldier and horse pinned down by enemy fire during the Boer War. Edwardian holiday makers would not have been immune to the message of serving men lost and charity requested.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘dirsh' (pronounced dursh) refers to the common thrush and the colly (pronounced kaul'ee) the blackbird. Thrushes, once very common song birds, are keen snail eaters so great for gardeners, you can tell they have been around when you spot broken snail shells near stone steps or pavements. To obtain the tasty snail inside the shell, the birds smash them on hard rocks with a flick of their heads.

The image is of the ‘Toast Racks' which were electric trams on Weston-super-Mare seafront. Whilst in service from 1902 until 1937, they carried more than 51 million passengers.

Now as you stand on Brean Down it is easy to imagine a succession of inhabitants over the last several thousand years. It can feel untamed, windswept and ancient. However, it might have looked very different if history had changed course due to the fact that it is slightly nearer the Atlantic coast than Liverpool. In 1861 the Brean Down Harbour Company was strategically formed and the company had grand plans to build a harbour and docks that would have allowed access to the largest ocean-going vessels. The Bristol and Exeter Railway was contracted to provide a link with the main railway network which would have meant a railway line extending the whole length of the Down.

The project made some progress and in 1864 local dignitaries held a ceremony in which the foundation stone was laid. But the very next day the stone was washed away, to be found eventually near Steep Holm. It seems the down was not destined to be changed so drastically, the scheme stalled between contractual disagreements and stormy weather and was abandoned in 1868.

The old Somerset dialect word ‘snarly-horn' (pronounced snaa'rlee-au'rn) is a snail!

It seems only sensible to top and tail this Storywalk with snails so here is a cruel little Somerset rhyme from R Tongues - Somerset Folklore.

Snarley-horn, put out your corn,
Fathes and mothers be dead,
Zister n brither's out to back-door
Bakin o' barley bread.
Dead

The poem would then be finished with the execution of the snail with a stone, in sync with the last line of the poem!

Perhaps we should be thankful that this rhyme is now confined to history.

This brings us to the end of this Storywalk although there are many others along the Somerset Coastline to enjoy. Why not post a picture on social media of your family or group enjoying the trail and tag us with @storywalks @ecpsomerset or use #ecpStorywalks.

These trails have been researched and written by C Jelley and Dr Helen Blackman and have been made possible by grant funding from the England Coast Path scheme, managed by Somerset County Council and the Rights of Way team.

Directions - Follow the road, it will take you back down to the foot of the steps where our trail began.

For Storywalk app service issues and enquiries - Storywalks contact

For Somerset public rights of way issues - Somerset County Council

Images - in order of display

1 - Three men scything - Somerset Heritage Centre - A/DSJ/94 -The Reverend Derick Collection

2 - A compass encased within a cowrie shell, used as a good luck charm by soldiers during the First World War - Welcome Collection - https://wellcomecollection.org/works/ahq3nuuq

3 - Alfred Etching - Somerset Heritage Centre - A/DSJ/385

4 - Pyramidal Orchid on Brean Down - photograph - Nigel Phillips

5 - Vipers Blugloss and Lady's Bedstraw - photograph - Nigel Phillips

6 - Mineralogist - Welcome Collection - Minerals: a caricature of a mineralogist whose body is made of rocks. Coloured lithograph by G. E. Madeley, 1830, after G. Spratt. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/f5ur364c/items?canvas=1&langCode=eng

7 - White Rock Rose - photograph - Nigel Phillips

8 - Brean Cafe - Anon

9 - Brean Down Fort - Anon

10 - Panjandrum rolling bomb - Anon

11 - Marconi - Anon

12 - Falcon Illustration - Welcome Collection - Heads and feet of five types of falcon, a gos-hawk and a sparrow-hawk. Coloured lithograph by P. Trap. (1821-1905)
https://wellcomecollection.org/works/k4fk4jnb

13 - Salmon Fishing Traps on the Severn Estuary - Anon

14 - Autumn Leaves - Welcome Collection - Autumn leaves and fruits of bramble (Rubus species). Watercolour drawings. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/k5yqfg3w
Wellcome Library no. 22344i

15 - Sand Castle - Western Super Mare - Sand castle sculpture for Boer War charity - Anon

16 - Toast Racks - Weston Super Mare tram factory - Anon