The Buchans 2009: Weston-super-Mare

The school holidays are over so we get the caravan ready and off we go. Having looked at the Heritage Open Days website Bristol had a lot to offer on that particular weekend.

We booked the Camping and Caravanning site on the outskirts of Weston super Mare (WSM) for 14 nights. Why WSM? The caravan site at Baltic Wharf is very busy and was fully booked for some of the time we wanted.

Here is Sue on the prom at WSM.

WSM lost its pier last year in a devastating fire, but as a replacement it now has the Wheel of Weston!

Just thought – anyone remember Weston’s Wagon Wheels the chocolate biscuit? Yummy.

WSM has lots of beach, so much so you rarely see the sea. The pier is in the background – lots of work is taking place to get it open to the public again.
View over Marine Lake – threatening weather in the distance.
Many of you reading this will remember Jill Dando. This garden was created by the BBC Groundforce Team in 2001 as a permanent tribute to Jill.
What’s this? It’s a bus stop in the middle of WSM! That’s what I call posh. We had a day out at Clevedon, the morning was spent geocaching around the town which took us to many of the main sights. We were very impressed with the residential part of the town – it all looked very upmarket. Below is Clevedon pier.
Good solid housing stock.
In the afternoon we visited Clevedon Court a NT property. The house was built by Sir John de Clevedon in c1320. Much of the original property is still evident, but many alterations have taken place over the years. The Elton family have been in residence here since 1709.

Whilst in the garden we witnessed an elderly lady fall down the grassy slope. We went over to help and it didn’t look good. Her husband was holding her arm and about to pull her up with it, but to me it looked as though she had a dislocated shoulder. I went for help and the ambulance was called. On their arrival she was made comfortable and taken to hospital. Our good deed for the day!
Clivedon gardens - great views. Near to WSM is Brean Sands – this is the second longest stretch of sand in Europe at about 6 miles. Parking is on the beach so there are plenty of parking spaces.
At the northern end of Brean Sands. The hilly bit is Brean Down at 300 feet in height.
Ice Cream? No takers.
For those geographers out there you will know that the tidal range in the Severn Estuary is the second highest in the world at up to 50 feet. It totally empties the creeks and literally leaves boats high and dry.

Bristol Doors Open Day – everyone else calls it Heritage Open Days.

The Old Dock Cottages, Cumberland Basin. We had a good look around two of the cottages. They were used for offices for voluntary organisations, but were condemned for habitation.

Underfall Yard a busy shipbuilders/repairers was fully open to the public so we had a good wander around the workshops and slipways. Very interesting.
Underfall workshops.
From Cumberland Basin we walked along the docks to Bristol centre to visit the Red Lodge. It was built in 1580 for John Yonge as a lodge for a Great House, which once stood on the site of the present Colston Hall. It is a grade I listed building.

The site is also the home of the Bristol Savages, who meet in a barn-like wigwam. The Bristol Savages were a society of artists whose history dates back to the late Victorian era, when the concept of the "noble savage" was seen as something to aspire to, the Native American culture still plays a large part in its traditions.
Elizabethan style knot garden at the Red Lodge.

Sunday took us to Banwell Bone Cave. This was part of the Heritage Open Days and is only open 4 days a year. The Bone Cavern is 8 metres high and wide and 20 metres long. It contains an assemblage of bones of mammals (including bear, deer, ox, bison and reindeer) from the Pleistocene era (approximately 80,000 years ago).

Below is Banwell Tower which is at the top of the hill – we did not ascend.
This is the C19th grade 2 listed Pebble Summer House which is in the grounds.

In the afternoon we went to the Helicopter Museum which is next to the caravan site. There were helicopter rides plus knowledgeable people were in attendance to answer questions. Here I am next to a helicopter which was part of the Queens Flight. You can just see the Queens’s insignia on my left.