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Bridgwater Bay
Bridgwater Bay is on the Bristol Channel, north of Bridgwater in Somerset, England at the mouth of the River Parrett and the end of the River Parrett Trail. It stretches from Minehead at the southwestern end of the bay to Brean Down in the north. The area consists of large areas of mudflats, saltmarsh, sandflats and shingle ridges, some of which are vegetated. It has been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) covering an area of since 1989, and is designated as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention. The risks to wildlife are highlighted in the local Oil Spill Contingency Plan. Several rivers, including the Parrett, Brue and Washford, drain into the bay. Man-made drainage ditches from the Somerset Levels, including the River Huntspill, also run into the bay. The mud flats provide a habitat for a wide range of flora and fauna. These include some nationally rare plants, beetles and snails. It is particularly important for over-win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
River Parrett
The River Parrett flows through the counties of Dorset and Somerset in South West England, from its source in the Thorney Mills springs in the hills around Chedington in Dorset. Flowing northwest through Somerset and the Somerset Levels to its mouth at Burnham-on-Sea, into the Bridgwater Bay nature reserve on the Bristol Channel, the Parrett and its tributaries drain an area of – about 50 per cent of Somerset's land area, with a population of 300,000. The Parrett's main tributaries include the Rivers Tone, Isle, and Yeo, and the River Cary via the King's Sedgemoor Drain. The long river is tidal for up to Oath. The fall of the river between Langport and Bridgwater is only , so it is prone to frequent flooding in winter and during high tides. Many approaches have been tried since at least the medieval period to reduce the incidence and effect of floods and to drain the surrounding fields. In Anglo-Saxon times the river formed a boundary between Wessex an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eurasian Wigeon
The Eurasian wigeon or European wigeon (''Mareca penelope''), also known as the widgeon or the wigeon, is one of three species of wigeon in the dabbling duck genus ''Mareca''. It is common and widespread within its Palearctic range. Taxonomy The Eurasian wigeon was described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of ''Systema Naturae'' under the binomial name ''Anas penelope''. ''Anas'' is the Latin word for "duck", and ''penelope'' refers to a duck that was supposed to have rescued Penelope when she was thrown into the sea. Her name derives from Ancient Greek πήνη ''pene'', "braid" and ὤψ ''ops'' "appearance", from the ruse she used to deter suitors while her husband Ulysses was absent. Description This dabbling duck is long with a wingspan, and a weight of . The breeding male has grey flanks and back, with a black rear end, a dark green speculum and a brilliant white patch on upper wings, obvious in flight or at rest. It has a pink breast, white belly, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lilstock
Lilstock is a hamlet in the civil parish of Stringston within the Somerset West and Taunton district of Somerset, England. It is north-west of Bridgwater, and north-east of Williton. It is on the coast of Bridgwater Bay on the Bristol Channel, near the Hinkley Point nuclear power stations. History It was recorded as Lytel-Stoke or Lulestock in the Domesday book, and rendered at one time as Little Stock or Little-stoke. Its name is said to have meant "the stoc armof Lylla and his people". Lilstock was an ancient parish, part of the Williton and Freemanners Hundred. In 1811 of common land were enclosed as part of the Inclosure Acts. Lilstock became a civil parish in 1866, but in 1886 it was merged with Kilton to form the civil parish of Kilton with Lilstock, itself abolished in 1933 and absorbed into the parish of Stringston. Coast The Blue Anchor to Lilstock Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) provides an outstanding series of sections through the Early ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burnham On Sea
Burnham-on-Sea is a seaside town in Somerset, England, at the mouth of the River Parrett, upon Bridgwater Bay. Burnham was a small fishing village until the late 18th century when it began to grow because of its popularity as a seaside resort. Burnham-on-Sea forms part of the parish of Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge and shares a town council with its neighbouring small market town of Highbridge. According to the 2011 census the population of the parish (including Highbridge) was 19,576, of which the most populous wards 'Burnham Central' and 'Burnham North'; totalled 13,601. Burnham-on-Sea is famous for its low lighthouse. The lighthouse was built in 1832 and is a Grade-II listed building with a red and white striped facade. The position of the town on the edge of the Somerset Levels and moors where they meet the Bristol Channel, has resulted in a history dominated by land reclamation and sea defences since Roman times. Burnham was seriously affected by the Bristol Channe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Brean
Brean is a village and civil parish between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, England. The name is derived from "Bryn" Brythonic and Modern Welsh for a hill and it has a population of 635. Close to the village is Brean Down, a promontory standing high and extending into the Bristol Channel, on which stands Brean Down Fort, marking the end of Weston Bay. The village is on a strip of land between the sea and the River Axe. It is the home of Brean Leisure Park, a tropical bird garden, other tourist attractions and several caravan parks. The sandy beach has been used for land sailing since 1970. Sometimes, Brean can also be linked with the nearby village, Berrow so the villages can also be called Berrow & Brean. History Brean was part of the hundred of Bempstone. During the Bristol Channel floods of 1607 the village was flooded, with seven of its nine houses being destroyed and 26 inhabitants drowned. Windmill House, on South Road, was one of the terminuses f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Lias
The Blue Lias is a geological formation in southern, eastern and western England and parts of South Wales, part of the Lias Group. The Blue Lias consists of a sequence of limestone and shale layers, laid down in latest Triassic and early Jurassic times, between 195 and 200 million years ago. The Blue Lias is famous for its fossils, especially ammonites. Its age corresponds to the Rhaetian to lower Sinemurian stages of the geological timescale, thus fully including the Hettangian stage. It is the lowest of the three divisions of the Lower Jurassic period and, as such, is also given the name ''Lower Lias''. Stratigraphically it can be subdivided into three members: the Wilmcote Limestone, Saltford Shale and Rugby Limestone. Lithology and facies The Blue Lias comprises decimetre scale alternations of argillaceous limestone and mudstone. These alternations are caused by short-term climatic variations during the Early Jurassic attributed to orbital forcing ( Milankovitch cycles). T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jurassic
The Jurassic ( ) is a geologic period and stratigraphic system that spanned from the end of the Triassic Period million years ago (Mya) to the beginning of the Cretaceous Period, approximately Mya. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic Era and is named after the Jura Mountains, where limestone strata from the period were first identified. The start of the Jurassic was marked by the major Triassic–Jurassic extinction event, associated with the eruption of the Central Atlantic Magmatic Province. The beginning of the Toarcian Stage started around 183 million years ago and is marked by an extinction event associated with widespread oceanic anoxia, ocean acidification, and elevated temperatures likely caused by the eruption of the Karoo-Ferrar large igneous provinces. The end of the Jurassic, however, has no clear boundary with the Cretaceous and is the only boundary between geological periods to remain formally undefined. By the beginning of the Jurassi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quantock Hills
The Quantock Hills west of Bridgwater in Somerset, England, consist of heathland, oak woodlands, ancient parklands and agricultural land. They were England's first Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, designated in 1956. Natural England have designated the Quantock Hills as a national character area. They are entirely surrounded by another: the Vale of Taunton and Quantock Fringes. The hills run from the Vale of Taunton Deane in the south, for about to the north-west, ending at Kilve and West Quantoxhead on the coast of the Bristol Channel. They form the western border of Sedgemoor and the Somerset Levels. From the top of the hills on a clear day, it is possible to see Glastonbury Tor and the Mendips to the east, Wales as far as the Gower Peninsula to the north, the Brendon Hills and Exmoor to the west, and the Blackdown Hills to the south. The highest point on the Quantocks is Wills Neck, at . Soil types and weather combine to support the hills' plants and animals. In 1970, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Burnham Area Rescue Boat
Burnham Area Rescue Boat (BARB), also known as BARB Search & Rescue, is a voluntary independent search and rescue service, formed in 1992 in Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset that operates two rescue hovercraft and two inshore rescue boats in the Bridgwater Bay area. It is also a registered charity. It mainly operates BBV hovercraft, which have been used to rescue people, animals and vehicles from the mudflats of the Bristol Channel, but also has two small inshore rescue boats. The construction of its boathouse on the seafront in 1994 was the subject of a television programme and took just three days. History Burnham-on-Sea is on the shore of the Bristol Channel and has a long sandy beach, but nearby mudflats and sandbanks have claimed several lives over the years. At low tide, large parts of the area become mudflats up to wide due to the tidal range of , second only to the Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada. A lifeboat had been provided in the town from 1836, but this was withdraw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Anchor To Lilstock Coast SSSI
Blue Anchor to Lilstock Coast SSSI ( to ) is a 742.8 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Blue Anchor and Lilstock in Somerset, notified in 1971. It provides an outstanding series of sections through the Early Jurassic Lower Lias, spanning the Hettangian and Pliensbachian Stages and named the "Lilstock Formation". This sequence and the good Rhaetian succession beneath are repeatedly affected by faulting, making it of interest to geologists and fossil hunters. It also displays coastal geomorphology which demonstrates a particularly well-developed series of intertidal shore platforms varying in width from about 200-600m. The cliff and beach are rich in reptile remains, including complete skeletons. Lilstock also yields ammonites, shells and fish remains. A unique specimen of an ichthyosaur, named ''Excalibosaurus costini'' McGowan, 1986 in which the lower jaw is shorter than the upper was found in the Lower Jurassic Sinemurian Stage, Lower Lias beds ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Berrow, Somerset
Berrow is a small residential coastal village and holiday area, a civil parish in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England, situated in between Burnham-on-Sea and Brean. According to the 2011 census it had a population of 1,534. History Berrow was part of the hundred of Brent-cum-Wrington. Governance The parish council has responsibility for local issues, including setting an annual precept (local rate) to cover the council's operating costs and producing annual accounts for public scrutiny. The parish council evaluates local planning applications and works with the local police, district council officers, and neighbourhood watch groups on matters of crime, security, and traffic. The parish council's role also includes initiating projects for the maintenance and repair of parish facilities, as well as consulting with the district council on the maintenance, repair, and improvement of highways, drainage, footpaths, public transport, and street cleaning. Conservation matte ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
