Standing here on Uphill beach it looks so easy to get to that big lump of rock sticking out into the Bristol Channel, Brean Down. At low tide it looks easy enough to cross the muddy bed of the River Axe to explore the peninsular which rises to nearly 320feet and sticks out one and a half miles into the sea. It looks really easy…. but it is really, really dangerous and people have died trying to cross the treacherous sinking sand, sucking mud, and surprising;y fast currents of the river and the sea. The tide here comes in really quickly, racing in beneath the surface of the sand, turning it to jelly, and it is the second highest tide in the world…. a treacherous place to be if you don’t take care.
Across the channel is Wales, and some visitors are foolish enough to try and walk across… yes walk across the mud and the sand to try to get there, forgetting of course that the sea is out there too. The coastguards and rescue services are kept busy, and sadly despite their best attempts to save lives, sometimes tragedy is the result. If you want to get to either Wales or Brean Down from Uphill, you have to jump in your car!
Lois Elsden 