Brean Down is a rocky peninsula off the coast of England near Somerset. It is a beautiful and popular place to visit. There is evidence of a pagan shrine at Brean Down dating from pre-Roman times. There is also evidence of an Iron age hill fort and prehistoric barrows and field systems. It was the perfect setting for a fort since it is surrounded by rocky cliffs.

And it was precisely down these rocky cliffs that Charlie, a Border Collie, tumbled down at Brean Down Fort at around 4pm in the late afternoon. His owner, Kim Biberger recalls what happened that day, "Charlie ran over the cliff edge while chasing after some low-flying birds. It was a heart-stopping moment when we saw him disappear and then to look over the edge and see he was clinging onto the rocks at the bottom of the cliffs just above the sea water. There was no way of safely reaching him so we called 999 and asked for the Coastguard."

The Coastguard responded quickly from Burnham and Weston and rushed to the scene. Their fear was that the owners might put themselves in danger by trying to climb down the steep cliff-face to reach the Charlie. Charlie had fallen down to the bottom and was clinging desperately to the rocky bottom just above the sea.

Burnham Coastguard cliff climber Dave Welland was lowered down the rocky surface using ropes to safely reach Charlie and take him back up to the relieved owners. After calming Charlie for a few minutes, they were on their way back up the rocky cliff. This area is a notorious spot at Brean Down where several dogs have died over the years so Charlie was a very lucky dog that day.

Charlie was quite happy after the rescue and his owner, Kim, was very grateful to the Coast Guard for getting to him in time and rescuing him. Describing her feelings that day, Kim said, "Charlie seemed to be very happy to have been rescued and we are so extremely grateful to the Coastguards for reaching him. He is very much part of the family and we are relieved he was not hurt."