Watchet

Watchet is a small harbour town on the West Somerset coast, tucked between the Quantock and Brendon Hills where they meet the Bristol Channel. Once a busy commercial port shipping iron ore from the Brendons and importing paper-making materials for the nearby mill, the working harbour was converted into a marina in 2001 and now shelters yachts and small craft behind its restored sea walls.

The town has a strong literary association: Samuel Taylor Coleridge is said to have drawn inspiration here for The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and a bronze statue of the Mariner with his albatross stands on the quayside. Along the harbour front visitors will find the Watchet Boat Museum, focused on the local flatner working boats, and the Market House Museum, which covers the town's maritime, mining and geological history. The surrounding cliffs are part of a recognised geological site, rich in Jurassic fossils.

Watchet is also the eastern terminus of the West Somerset Railway, England's longest standard-gauge heritage line, which runs steam trains down the coast to Minehead. The South West Coast Path passes through the town, linking it with Blue Anchor and Dunster.