We went along the coast to Burnham-on-Sea, a small seaside town of about 20,000 people. It was a lovely sunny day and we strolled along the promenade, eating ice creams and enjoying the view across the Bristol Channel to North Devon and to Wales.
This part of Somerset over the millennia has been on the coast, under the sea or in the middle of marshes,depending on the level of the oceans, and the way the shoreline changes and the success or lack of it, of draining the hinterland. There may have been Romans in the area, possibly Anglo-Saxons, along the banks of a now vanished river… I am intrigued by disappearing rivers, there are vanished rivers all over the country!
Certainly by the tenth century people were living in the area and farming, and gradually over the centuries a village then town grew up. However, as with so many isolated places, it was the arrival of the railway which changed the township for ever. In 1841 a line was built from the north through Somerset, and it wasn’t long before the railways brought in visitors and took out exports of the townsfolk produce.
In the twentieth century Burnham developed into a popular and pretty little seaside town, and although as with many British holiday destinations its fortunes have declined a little, it is still a very pleasant place to visit. We always enjoy a wander along by the sea, and around the town!
Lois Elsden 