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Car parking and a perfect place to rest your feet

Perfect Dario to watch the world go by and look at wildlife

Lovely trail with hides for birdwatching. Pub and shop in the village.

The Bridgwater Bay National Nature Reserve is a large area encompassing the Steart Peninsula and Steart Marshes. Managed by Natural England, it’s a vital habitat for overwintering birds and has extensive mudflats that reach out into the Bristol Channel. While the marshes are fascinating to walk around, looking out into the bay is a phenomenal sight when the tide is out and the mud is covered in birds. Around 190 species of bird have been recorded here, so bring binoculars. This area has one of the largest tidal ranges in the world and the dangers of fast, incoming waves should not be underestimated.

Steart Marshes lies at the mouth of the River Parrett and is a working wetland preserve. Home to a vast population of wildfowl and being an important part of the local flood defences, it’s a wonderful place to walk around. Managed by the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust, there are salt and freshwater marshes here covering hundreds of hectares. Otters, egrets and wildfowl all call this their home and you’ll find plenty of hides dotted about to spy on them.

The Anchor Inn dates back to around 1700 and has an 18th-century Fives Wall next to it. Fives is a ball game played by two or four players whereby the ball is hit with a (gloved) hand. This kind of hand-tennis game has many iterations and is now only really played by a handful of private schools. Back in the day, Fives was played against church walls but, thanks to the damage caused, encouraged specific Fives Walls to be constructed. Few remain and the Anchor has one! The pub itself is charming and is a favourite amongst locals for serving excellent food.

‘Clyce’ or ‘clyse’ is a regional word for sluice and you’ll find many if you walk along the River Parrett. The Somerset Levels is reclaimed land and barely above sea level, resulting in a sprawling wetland area. The water management of the Levels has been going for hundreds, if not thousands of years and sluices are an important part of controlling the run-off from the rivers. Many of the clyces you’ll find have been in place for a considerable amount of time and are a fascinating part of the local history. New ones are still built today.

While the River Parrett is tidal all the way up to Oath, further inland, Dunball is the first point at which mudflats are particularly evident. When the tide is low, the mud here is filled with birds, hunting around for snacks. Dunball is also a working dockyard, the last on the River Parrett. It’s evidence of this river’s industrial past and the docks can be clearly seen from the River Parrett Trail on the southern bank.