Stunned mother and daughter spot ‘Loch Ness monster’ in Bristol Channel

A mother and daughter spotted what looked like the Loch Ness monster as they sat near Clevedon Pier enjoying an ice cream. Anna Purse and her six-year-old daughter Grace stopped and stared at the ‘moving’ object after seeing it in the channel on Sunday morning (February 26).

And despite Clevedon being more than 500 miles from Nessie’s home in the Scottish Islands, the pair said that it reminded them of the famous monster - although both really knew it was more likely to be a large piece of driftwood making its way to the sea.

Anna even posted on a local Facebook group, where people jokingly joined the speculation. One person said ‘Nessie with a wooden leg’. Another said ‘went the wrong way round the roundabout ended up in the sea’, making reference to the new seafront roundabout in Clevedon.

Anna said: “Myself and my six-year-old daughter were walking along the seafront on Sunday and we were sittingon one of the benches before the piece. The shape was right next to the pier and I noticed it moving. It moved all the way along the sea in front of us whilst we were sat there.

“My daugher said it looked like a sea monster. Just the shape of it reminded me of Nessie. It was driftwood of course, but just looked so unusual.” She added: “It was quite far out so must have been quite big!”

The ‘Loch Ness monster’ joins a variety of moments and species seen in the water. In 2020, a rare waterspout was seen in the channel, and last year two dolpins were seen swimming near Portishead.

Back to the ‘monster’ sighting, more people commented on the photograph. One said: “Looks like the LOG ness monster”. And another said: “Nessie getting a swim in before the council starts charging to swim to swim in the sea/ open water”, in reference to Bristol City Council’s plan to charge people for swimming in the harbourside.