Weston-super-Mare: Encyclopedia - Weston-super-Mare

Weston-super-Mare

Weston-super-Mare is an English seaside resort town in North Somerset, population 71,758 (2001 census). It is situated on the Bristol Channel approximately 18 miles (28 km) south west of Bristol. The town has spread along the coast between the bounding high ground of Worlebury Hill and Brean Down. It is well known for its sandy beaches, although at low tide the sea can be over a mile from the beachfront. It is the most populous civil parish in England.

Weston comes from the Anglo-Saxon for the west tun or settlement. The descriptive part of its name is unusual because it is in medieval Latin and was first recorded by an unknown medieval church clerk, presumably to distinguish it from other Westons in the area. It is a popular myth that the description was a later Victorian invention. It means literally "on sea". It is pronounced mair rather than mahrey, however.

Weston owes its growth and prosperity to the Victorian era boom in seaside holidays. Along with nearby Burnham-on-Sea, it benefited from proximity to Bristol, Bath and South Wales. With the coming of the railways, thousands of visitors came to the town, on works outings and Bank Holidays — many mining families coming directly by steamer from Wales. To cater for them, Birnbeck Pier was completed in 1867, offering in its heyday amusement arcades, tea rooms, funfair rides and a photographic studio. However, it now stands in a derelict state and is in danger of collapsing into the sea.

Weston has been (and still is) a location for some significant business ventures. In 1885 the first transatlantic cable of the Commercial Cable Company was brought ashore and the company started a long association with the town, ending in 1962. Philip Harris Ltd moved their production unit to the town in the 1970s to join their biological supplies division, which moved from Sheffield in 1965. Some biological supplies work still continues under different owners.

Local traders, unhappy that visitors were not coming as far as the centre of the town, began the construction of a new pier closer to the main streets. Opened in 1904, and known as the Grand Pier, it was originally planned to be 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long. It still stands in truncated form today, although amusements and cafes have replaced the original music-hall theatre it supported, with the present building dating from 1933. Further development occurred after World War I, with the Winter Gardens and Pavilion (1927), the Open Air Pool and an airfield all dating from the inter-war period. Art Deco influences can be seen in much of the town's architecture from this period.

During World War II many evacuees were accommodated in the town. Weston suffered several bombing raids, damaging parts of the town centre.

In the post-war period Weston suffered a large decline in popularity, like virtually all British seaside resorts. The advent of cheap foreign holidays and the break-up of large industries like mining contributed, as working communities became less likely to holiday together. The town had become a centre of industries such as aircraft production. Road transport links were improved with the M5 motorway running closely by, and the town now supports several light industries and distribution depots, and functions partly as a dormitory town for Bristol.

The tourist traffic has never completely vanished and Weston nowadays could be considered to be weathering hard times moderately well. It has a shopping centre, helicopter museum, a sea-life centre (currently called the SeaQuarium) and miniature railway.

Made an urban district in 1894, Weston-super-Mare become a municipal borough in 1937. In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, it was merged into the Woodspring district of the County of Avon, and became a Charter Trustees town. When Avon was split up in 1996, it became the administrative headquarters of North Somerset, one of the successor authorities. Weston-super-Mare regained a town council in 2000, becoming a civil parish.

Well-known former residents of the town include author and politician Jeffrey Archer, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore, actor John Cleese, author Roald Dahl, journalist Jill Dando, and actor Rupert Graves. The writer Bill Bryson had a wet time visiting, recounted in Notes from a Small Island. Arthur Stanley Eddington, one of the foremost astrophysicists of the early 20th Century grew up in the town.

See also

Weston-super-Mare (UK Parliament constituency)

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Weston-super-Mare", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki