Never been to Weston… looks like you had a good day.
Gummy its not all doom and gloom the UK is still gorgeous but everywhere has its neglected parts even Australia
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The “new” pier at Weston burned down a few years ago. Insurance paid out, it was rebuilt, and operational again within a couple of years.
The old pier is not as accessible for jollyday makers and less attractive to visitors, so not as attractive to owners or investors, but it could be made so.
Clevedon pier just a few kilometres up-river is a beautiful little jobby, and as already mentioned, has been lovingly restored with the aid of volunteers and donations after it collapsed due to storm damage.
There is no amusement arcade, but it is a pleasant and gentle stroll along with a nice visitor centre and a chippy at the entrance end and a fantastic viewpoint from the other. It can be done.
Even if the rest of Birnbeck island was just made safe, initially the main pier to the island and the boathouse could be restored. That would get the RNLI back where they want to be, and would bring tourists and revenue to the north end of the town.
Knightstone island on the seafront has been revamped. The old bathhouse and theatre have been turned into smart, posh residential buildings and a cafe. The marine lake is currently being dredged so people can swim in it again.
In contrast, the Tropicana outdoor swimming pool has been closed for decades. Locals wanted it to be refurbished and a roof put on. The council wanted to bulldoze it into the sea, and many developers wanted to build a hotel and apartments.
One local businessman wanted to turn it back into a swimming pool plus apartments, but his bid was refused.
Imagine, a waterpark right on the seafront, just rotting away. I don’t know what is wrong with some people.
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Lovely set of photos @Fruitcake, enjoyed looking through them.
Terribly sad about the old pier, though, especially for the RNLI. I have enormous respect for them still operating there under what must be horrendous conditions.
In Plymouth we have a beautiful old Victorian theatre which is in a dreadful state of disrepair, and would need thousands, if not millions, spent on it to bring it back to its former glory. And honestly it would be such a worthwhile project, it really is such a lovely building.
Trouble is, we had a brand spanking new Theatre Royal built, just up the road from it, 40 years ago, so the heart went out of the Palace Theatre and it closed its curtains for the last time a year after the new theatre opened. It was operated as a nightclub venue until 2006, but was eventually closed down when class A drugs were found on the premises. It’s been empty and falling apart ever since.
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The old Royal Hospital in Weston was sensitively redeveloped into apartments and modern additions that complimented the old design were added.
The same was done when the main hospital in town was renovated and converted after the new, but far too small hospital was built in the eighties. I was an inmate there two weeks after it was built, and the roof leaked.
A huge Edwardian church was also sensitively converted into apartments as well. It can be done, but like you say, it costs money, and it needs the will of the council and planning departments to see the assets these old buildings can become.
Nobody is making any more land, and I am in great favour of using brownfield sites to revamp an area.
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@Fruitcake , So sad to see Fruity ! But l think you have allready mentioned
the solution to the problem when you said one of the piers had burned
down ?? And was renovated with the insurance pay out l!!
I suppose you will now tell me it was not insured ?
Donkeyman! 
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Agree with this as long as existing buildings can be reused sensitively rather than just brutally bulldozing our cultural history. I’ve seen this happen too many times in my area, so upsetting. Sadly though, we have too many people on this small island of ours. France, with a similar population to the UK, has more than twice the landmass, and you can see the difference driving round that country - they can afford to leave their lovely old buildings intact, whole villages comprising buildings 100s of years old - while they build new alongside.
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It is so sad, we had so many happy days in that swimming pool when my children were young
They could have made it into such an asset to the town and it would have attracted people in to spend on other businesses
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Weston-S-Mare pier on fire in 2008 (not my photo)
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My ex-BiL was the lead quantity surveyor on the project to restore that pier.
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After the fire…
.
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Fruitcake, l love this thread and your words about Weston Super Mare.
It’s my nearest seaside place and l have been there many times over the years.
I love it and the surrounding areas/villages too.
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we mustn’t forget too that when the british holiday destinations changed and the british pounds poured into the costa del sol and other like options then the british seaside destinations died out. I remember visiting a Welsh seaside town on one of my visits in 2000 in mid July , the town was deserted ;six kids played on the huge expanses of sands and boarding houses standing a stones throw away from the beach were boarded up. there was an air of forlorness about the whole town; the sadness was palpable. I guess you could say that the british destroyed their own local holiday destinations by sheer neglect? ie not using them no more?
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I don’t suppose our changeable weather helps them either.
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too much sun burns the soul; the skin and the pocket! here in oz most over 30’s avoid it and just save it from their rooftops to the boilers etc?
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I can bet ya a dollar to a dime that the electricals in the roof of that pier were not checked regularly for deterioration. Maintenance is often non-existant or slack at best
this song about brownfield sites is a very nostalgic one and haunts me regularly:
I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Clouds are drifting across the moon
Cats are prowling on their beat
Spring’s a girl from the streets at night
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I heard a siren from the docks
Saw a train set the night on fire
I smelled the spring on the smoky wind
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I’m gonna make me a good sharp axe
Shining steel tempered in the fire
I’ll chop you down like an old dead tree
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
I met my love by the gas works wall
Dreamed a dream by the old canal
I kissed my girl by the factory wall
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
Dirty old town
composer Ewan MacColl ; Salford?
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Thanks for the post, lovely pictures especially the bluebells. We used to visit Weston a lot when we lived in Devon.
Ps I miss your posts on MSE 
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I mainly post on the MSE parking forum now since the Arms closed. I’m still in regular touch with a certain Goddess by the way. 
22 years ago…
I believe there’s been a huge turn around in many of our traditional seaside holiday towns since then.
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yes I still recall many moons ago our camping holidays along the coasts of UK and we were lucky to find a spot to pitch even though it was drizzling! but we all soldiered on and those seaside towns benefited from our presence. Was it ever necessary for Britain to give up all of that and hand it on a plate to the likes of Spaom, Portugal and Italy?