Weston-super-Mare

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Template:Infobox England place with map UA 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.

Early in the 19th Century, Weston was a small windswept village of about 30 houses, located behind a line of sand dunes fronting the sea. The Pigott family of Brockley, who were the local Lords of the Manor, had a summer residence at Grove House. Weston owes its growth and prosperity to the Victorian era boom in seaside holidays. Construction of the first hotel in the village started in 1808. Along with nearby Burnham-on-Sea, Weston benefited from proximity to Bristol, Bath and South Wales.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel and his family lived in Weston, at Swiss Villa (eastern corner of Alexandra Parade and Swiss Road), for a number of months whilst he was supervising the construction of the Bristol & Exeter Railway in the area. With the opening of the railway, thousands of visitors came to the town from Bristol, The Midlands and further afield, on works outings and Bank Holidays. Also, many mining families came across the Bristol Channel from South Wales by paddle steamer. 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.

Large areas of land were released for development from the 1850s onwards. Large detached villas, for the middle classes, were built on the southern slopes of Worlebury Hill. Semi-detached and terraced housing for the lower classes was built on the low 'moorland', behind the sea front.

Weston has been (and still is) a location for some significant business ventures. In 1885 the first transatlantic telegraph 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.

Image:WestonPier.jpg 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, particularly Orchard Street and Boulevard. War industries, such as aircraft and pump manufacture, were dispersed to the town. Many US troops were billeted in Weston. They and their equipment vanished practically overnight, with the run-up to D-Day.

Image:WestonTownHall.jpg 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 helicopter production. Road transport links were improved with the M5 motorway running close 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.

Today, the downtown residential areas are little changed from when they were constructed in the 19th Century. Most of the houses are stone built.

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.