It was soon extended a further metres into the water with the intention of running a regular passenger boat service to Cardiff but this plan was abandoned when they realised it was impossible to have a regular timetable because Weston has the second highest tidal range in the world.
The extension to the pier was soon dismantled and the pier was just reserved for entertainment. It was taken over by the military during the Second World War and became HMS Birnbeck - a site for important military research and weapons testing.
Among the scientists based there was Barnes Wallis, the inventor of the bouncing bomb. Early tests for that weapon which skipped across the water before hitting its target, were carried out at Birnbeck.
With Birnbeck and the Weston coastline from Brean Down to Sand Point being used for military research and testing, as well as the proximity of Weston airfield, the town was a target for enemy fire during WW2. That was despite having more than 6, women and children evacuated to the town in from cities such as London and Bristol because it was thought they would be safer.
But Weston was the target of bombing raids. Indeed Weston played an active role in the First World War. Large areas of the town were destroyed, particularly Orchard Street and the Boulevard.
On 3 and 4 January , incendiary bombs fell on the town. The Air Ministry set up a "Q-station" decoy at Bleadon in an attempt to divert the bombers to an unpopulated area. In the later part of the war, United States Army troops were billeted in the area, but they were relocated in the run-up to D-Day. After the war it served as a logistics supply station, with helicopter makers Westland Helicopters on site until closure in Today there is an operational heliport on site used occasionally by the RAF Search and Rescue service.
The former Westland site, which closed in , houses the Helicopter Museum featuring examples of Westland aircraft. Residential areas outside the town centre include the Oldmixon, Coronation, and Bournville housing estates, built in the mid to late 20th century. Newer housing has since been built towards the east of the town in North Worle and Locking Castle, nearer to the M5 motorway. Lawrence, as well as new areas such as St.
Georges and Locking Castle. A structure known as Silica was installed at Big Lamp Corner during It is a piece of public art, an advertising sign, a retail kiosk selling newspapers and hot food, as well as a bus shelter. It has been criticised by local residents who liken it to a carrot or a space ship, although it is meant to symbolise man's harmony with the sea.
This was part of North Somerset Council's ongoing civic pride initiative that has sought to revitalise Weston-super-Mare's public spaces, which had suffered a period of decline. Other public space improvements have been made throughout the town such as improvements to the street scene in Grove Park Village.
On 28 July , the pavilion at the end of the Grand Pier was completely destroyed by a fire. Eleven fire engines and 80 fire-fighters were unable to contain the blaze which is believed to have started in the north-east tower of the Pavilion.
A competition was held to design a new pavilion, and the project awarded to the winning architect Angus Meek Architects of Bristol. As part of the work, a scour protection apron and splash wall were added as part of flood prevention measures. At the end of the 20th and start of the 21st centuries, the town saw a growth in residential rehabilitation treatment centres for people with drug and alcohol problems, with attendant crime and social problems.
These problems were highlighted by Weston's councillors, newspapers and the MP , John Penrose during his maiden speech in the House of Commons in The mainly flat landscape of Weston is dominated by Worlebury Hill , metres ft , which borders the entire northern edge of the town, and Bleadon Hill , metres ft which together with the River Axe , and Brean Down at Uphill form its southern border.
In the centre of the town is Ellenborough Park a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to the range of plant species found there. The beach of Weston Bay lies on the western edge of the town. The upper part is sandy but the sea retreats a long way at low tide exposing large areas of mud flats hence the colloquial name of Weston-super-Mud.
The tidal range in this part of the Bristol Channel is great, and since beach and mud flats are on a gentle slope, attempting to reach the sea at times of low tide is inadvisable as the sand gives way to mud which is very deep and has frequently resulted in loss of life over the years.
Driving on the beach which is permitted in certain areas occasionally results the drivers of vehicles being caught unawares as they drive too close to the sea and break through the sand into the underlying mud and are then stuck.
The tidal rise and fall in the Severn Estuary and Bristol Channel can be as great as This tidal movement contributes to the deposition of natural mud in bays such as Weston. There has been concern about pollution levels from industrial areas in Wales and at the eastern end of the Bristol Channel, however this tends to be diluted by the Atlantic waters.
There are measurable levels of chemical pollutants and little is known about their effects. Of particular concern are the levels of cadmium and to a lesser degree residual pesticides and hydrocarbons.
It is also the site of the Middle Hope Along with the rest of South West England , Weston has a temperate climate which is generally wetter and milder than the rest of the country. Seasonal temperature variation is less extreme than most of the United Kingdom because of the adjacent sea temperatures. In the summer the Azores high pressure affects the south-west of England, however convective cloud sometimes forms inland, reducing the number of hours of sunshine.
Annual sunshine rates are slightly less than the regional average of 1, hours. In December there were 20 days without sun recorded at Yeovilton. Most the rainfall in the south-west is caused by Atlantic depressions or by convection. Most of the rainfall in autumn and winter is caused by the Atlantic depressions, which is when they are most active.
In summer, a large proportion of the rainfall is caused by sun heating the ground leading to convection and to showers and thunderstorms. Average rainfall is around mm 28 in. There is, in consequence, a widely held theory that our name "Mare" is not the sea, but moor or mere; in other words the level plain upon which the town has spread itself. It has been difficult to argue against this theory because, as has been pointed out, Weston was anciently described as Weston-upon-More.
But against this there is the fact that the ancient village of Weston was clustered around the parish church on the lower slopes of the hill, and did not spread itself over the then undrained marshes. It may be thought that if the place had simply been called Weston it would have saved a lot of bother.
But would it? There are about 60 Westons in this country, and nearly 30 in the United States. Even in our own Diocese of Bath and Wells there are at least five. What would be more natural than that, in the old days, scribes when writing about our Weston in Latin, the universal language of their day, should refer to it as Weston-super-Mare?
Walton-in-Gordano was originally known as Stoke-super-Mare. At that time it was no more than a tiny walled enclosure overlooking the sea. There was no suggestion of it being in a moor. This existence of two super-Mares within a few miles of one another is interesting, since Walton, as you may know, is just a little further up the coast between Clevedon and Portishead.
Possibly the same ecclesiastical scribe christened them both, and if he had the sea in mind in one instance, he must certainly have had it in mind with the second. There remains the question of how Weston-super-Mare should be pronounced. A few years ago there was interesting correspondence about this in the Sunday Times. As it is in the rest of England. Centaurs dug super mares. Site Hint: Check out our list of pronunciation videos. That seems to have been the intent, but "super" in Latin means "above" or "over", whereas "on" or "upon" in English place names just means "by" or "beside".
I think a better Latin translation would have been "Weston-ad-Marem". Hearing John Cleese describe his life there, and not having ever seen the name written out, I assumed the name was from the French, but with an extra word inserted.
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