Steart Peninsula

Steart (pronounced Ste-art), historically also called Stert, is a small village in Somerset, England. It lies in an isolated position on the Steart Peninsula on the Bristol Channel coast, about 6 miles (10 km) north of Bridgwater. The toponym is derived from the Old English steort, meaning "tail, projecting piece of land". Steart was historically in the ancient parish of Stockland Bristol, except for the foreshore on the Bristol Channel coast, which was in the parish of Stogursey. In 1885 it was transferred to the civil parish of Otterhampton.A medieval chapel at Steart was disused by 1611. The church of St Andrew was built in 1882. The Bethel Congregational church was open between 1847 and 1938. During World War 2, two small radio direction-finding stations were located in Steart. They were part of a secret MI6 organisation called The Radio Security Service listening to and locating the communications of German spies and their handlers. These stations intercepted the messages of the Abwehr, the German Secret Intelligence Service, and provided a large volume of high level intelligence throughout the war. In December 1945, in the nearby village of Combwich The Freedom of Steart was conferred upon Captain Louis Varney, the officer in command of the DF Stations.The West Somerset Coast Path and River Parrett Trail both start at Steart.

St Andrew's Church is a Church of England church in Steart, Somerset, England. The church, which was built in 1882, is now used for services periodically.

The River Huntspill (or Huntspill River) is an artificial river, in the Somerset Levels, in the Sedgemoor district of Somerset, England. It was built in 1940 to supply process water to ROF Bridgwater, and has resulted in reduced flooding of the lower Brue Valley. Huntspill Sluice at the river's western end, also known as West Huntspill Sluice, separates it from the River Parrett. A large section of the river and its surrounding lands has been designated as a national nature reserve which is managed by the Environment Agency.

Stert Island is a low-lying uninhabited island in the Bristol Channel, off the coast of Somerset, England. It lies opposite Burnham-on-Sea, and is part of the Bridgwater Bay Nature Reserve. Stert Island was formed in about 1798, when it broke off from the Steart Peninsula. The island is noted for its birds, including spotted redshank and whimbrel, which have a major night roost on the island.Each year, a 2.4 km (1.5 mi) swim is organised from Burnham-on-Sea to the island.Administratively the island is in the civil parish of Otterhampton. Until 1885 it was in the parish of Stogursey, and from then until 1933 it was in the parish of Huntspill.

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 660 square miles (1,700 km2) – 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 37-mile (60 km) long river is tidal for 19 miles (31 km) up to Oath. The fall of the river between Langport and Bridgwater is only 1 foot per mile (0.2 m/km), 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 and Dumnonia. It later served the Port of Bridgwater, and enabled cargoes to be transported inland. The arrival of the railways led to a decline in commercial shipping, and the only working docks are at Dunball. Human influence on the river has left a legacy of bridges and industrial artefacts. The Parrett along with its connected waterways and network of drains supports an ecosystem that includes several rare species of flora and fauna. The River Parrett Trail has been established along the banks of the river.

The River Brue originates in the parish of Brewham in Somerset, England, and reaches the sea some 50 kilometres (31 mi) west at Burnham-on-Sea. It originally took a different route from Glastonbury to the sea, but this was changed by Glastonbury Abbey in the twelfth century. The river provides an important drainage route for water from a low-lying area which is prone to flooding which man has tried to manage through rhynes, canals, artificial rivers and sluices for centuries. The Brue Valley Living Landscape is an ecological conservation project based on the Somerset Levels and Moors and managed by the Somerset Wildlife Trust. The valley includes several Sites of Special Scientific Interest including Westhay Moor, Shapwick Heath and Shapwick Moor. Much of the area has been at the centre of peat extraction on the Somerset Levels. The Brue Valley Living Landscape project commenced in January 2009 to restore and reconnect habitat that will support wildlife. The aim is to be able to sustain itself in the face of climate change while guaranteeing farmers and other landowners can continue to use their land profitably. It is one of an increasing number of landscape scale conservation projects in the UK.

Apex Leisure and Wildlife Park is an urban park and wildlife centre in Highbridge, Somerset, England. The park was created on the site of a former clay pit and brickwork manufacturing site and provides a link between Highbridge and Burnham-on-Sea. There are various facilities including an outdoor gym, a lake and birdlife.

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 a registered charity. It operates BBV hovercraft and 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.

West Huntspill is a settlement and civil parish about 5 miles from Bridgwater, in the Sedgemoor district, in the county of Somerset, England. The parish includes the village of Huntspill and the hamlet of Alstone. In 2011 the parish had a population of 1414. The parish touches Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge, East Huntspill, Otterhampton, Pawlett and Puriton.

Pawlett is a small village 4 miles (6 km) north of Bridgwater, in the Sedgemoor district of the English county of Somerset. The village has Roman or Saxon origins. It has a Norman church and expanded in the 17th and 18th centuries with the draining of the Somerset Levels. During World War II it was the site of an experimental research station into anti-barrage balloon warfare, where experiments were performed to examine ways to use cable cutting devices on the wings of aircraft to sever the cable on which the balloon was flown and thus allow the aircraft to continue on a mission unimpeded. Brave pilots flew their machines into cables to test the effectiveness of these cutters.

St Peter's Church is a Church of England church in Combwich, Somerset, England. The church, which was designed by Charles Knowles, was built in 1867–70 and has been a Grade II listed building since 1985.

Burnham-on-Sea Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset in England. A lifeboat was stationed in the town from 1836 until 1930. The present station was opened in 2003. It operates two inshore lifeboats (ILBs), a B Class rigid-inflatable boat and an inflatable D Class.