![](http://www.alamy.com/thumbs/6/C1BA07D3-A429-44D8-8BEE-B6A07A1D79CB/A5TY1P.jpg)
Minehead on the southern flanks of the Bristol Channel, Somerset. XPL 5018-468
Minehead is a coastal town in West Somerset, England with a population of around 10,000. Since 1974, Minehead has been administered by the West Somerset District Council. The Town Council was created in 1983. Since 1991, Minehead has been twinned with Saint-Berthevin, a small town close to the regional centre of Laval in the Mayenne département of France. The town is overlooked by North Hill, and is close to Exmoor National Park. The cliff exposures around Minehead's shoreline are very dramatic and fossils are exposed. The town has been a popular seaside resort since the 1850s, and tourism employs 60-percent of the local workforce. In 1990 much of Minehead's beach was washed away in a severe storm which also caused serious flooding in the town. A £ Environment Agency sea defence scheme was designed to reduce the risk of this erosion and flooding from happening again in the future. The Environment Agency built of new sea wall and rock or concrete stepped revetment between 1997 and 1998 and imported 320,000 tons of additional sand in 1999 to build a new beach. This beach sits between four rock groynes and has been built at a much higher level than the previous beach so that it breaks the waves before they reach the new sea wall. Any waves that do reach the new wall are turned back by its curved shape. The town's new sea defences were officially opened in 2001 by Sir John Harman.
Size: 3622px × 5500px
Location: Minehead, Somerset. England. United Kingdom
Photo credit: © David Gowans / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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