A Year of Trust

It seems to be an innately British thing that, regardless of the weather, if you’re on holiday that means a picnic on the beach.

Even if you’ve been forced to shelter behind a boat from the wind, or the gales are so strong you’re getting more a mouthful of your own hair than of your sandwich, you’ve come to have a good time so that’s what you’re going to have.

On the day of our visit to Branscombe Beach it was February half-term, and so there were various collections of families dotted along the beach, shivering in canvas beach chairs while their children determinedly built sandcastles – all while grimacing and pretending it was 15 degrees warmer.

And given the beauty of this National Trust beach, I can see why. To the West were the rust coloured hills ubiquitous along the Jurassic Coast, to the East miles of beach flanked by imposing cliffs and dramatic weather-beaten rock structures. We watched hikers wind their way up the steep hill to the cliff tops for a better view of the coastline.

In addition to the Jurassic history it shares with the rest of the Dorset/Devon coast, Branscombe Beach had its own noteworthy event in much more recent history.

On my birthday 15 years ago (19 January), container ship MSC Napoli found itself in significant trouble in the English Channel, having suffered a hull breach due to violent waves and rough seas.

Despite plans to tow the stricken vessel to Portland, it became clear it wouldn’t last that far and so the decision was taken to beach the container ship at Branscombe.

Hearing this news, local residents donned their tricorns, whipped on their eye patches and channelled their inner pirates to go and plunder the vessel of its goods – including 17 BMW motorbikes, various car parts, perfume and disappointingly empty wine casks, as well as other actual flotsam.

Police quickly put a stop to the looting, closed the beach, the thieves were told to return the goods they had taken and order was restored. In the summer, the ship’s owners tried to refloat the Napoli, realised she was beyond saving and so blew her up instead so that she was in pieces small enough to cart off for recycling.

In a nice touch, an anchor made from the Napoli was presented to the Branscombe area and now sits at the entrance to the beach.

This being a National Trust site, there is of course a cafe, and a very pretty one at that. I have it on good authority the Rocky Road was delicious, and I can vouch for the gluten free brownies.

A word of warning for anyone driving – the roads leading to Branscombe are typical of Devon – narrow, steep and thus a bit exciting – so be prepared to throw your car into a hedge or squeeze into a passing place at a moment’s notice.

Verdict: A beautiful beach with interesting local history. Blindfold your passengers on the journey in to avoid frayed nerves.