
Chapter one
Dialect
The old Somerset dialect word ‘kickhammering' (pronounced kik'aam'uree) refers to a stammer.

Chapter two
The Gurt Steart
The Steart peninsula, pronounced ‘stuurrrt' to rhyme with hurt, is a unique spit of land which has been inhabited off and on for the best part of 2000 years. It has witnessed Viking, Saxon and Dane invaders using the Parrett to take flat bottomed boats deep inland. There have been ancient battles on the waters right here and sailors sadly caught in terrible flood tides.
The marshes, which we will walk beside today are part of the most recent landscape interventions. These new breeding habitats were created by an EU directive to displace those lost through national industrial developments.
Today, you may spot a wide variety of birds and wildlife here, from herons to cormorants, skylarks to curlew, ducks to plovers, dragonflies to rushes. Some of the birds are resident all year, many pass through to feeding or breeding grounds on other landmasses. It is important to see these marshes as part of a wider ecosystem designed and managed to support a broad diversity of birds and insect life in these ever changing times.
The marshes, which we will walk beside today are part of the most recent landscape interventions. These new breeding habitats were created by an EU directive to displace those lost through national industrial developments.
Today, you may spot a wide variety of birds and wildlife here, from herons to cormorants, skylarks to curlew, ducks to plovers, dragonflies to rushes. Some of the birds are resident all year, many pass through to feeding or breeding grounds on other landmasses. It is important to see these marshes as part of a wider ecosystem designed and managed to support a broad diversity of birds and insect life in these ever changing times.
Directions - Walk out of the WWT Steart Marshes information hub, cross the road and bare left to the circular welcome area. But as you walk perhaps discuss what the old Somerset dialect word ‘backsunded’ (pronounced baak-zundud) might refer to.