Ok, time to come clean methinks....the call was made by a visitor to my patch who didn't understand what the anchor was doing just laying on the beach as it is. It's been there for years, so I'm told, came from a wrecked vessel and was placed in it's present position, why that was I know not, but there it is and there it's been for years.
I'm led to believe that it's attached to a chain which is sunk into a bed of concrete, although I never verified that. It looks heavy and I wasn't about to digging underneath it to prove that!
I think it looks nice, personally...if I had a garden I may (just possibly) think about relocating it, but I guess the Parish Council and the Thin Blue Line would probably take exception to that idea...
As they say in all the best places...anchors away?
Rich