As we live in Penarth
I'm sure you'll realise that we've been on our home town pier many,
many times before. After it's recent renovation it is now a truly
lovely pier and justly deserved it's Pier of the Year award in 2014
but we've seen it all before and we just wanted to get on with our
trip, oh and the rain was just starting to come down, so it was a
quick photo and we were on our way........
#1 Penarth Pier (Built in 1895)
Despite being in two different countries the first two piers on our list are just 18 miles apart as the crow flies. Unfortunately we're driving an ageing BMW not catching a lift from a scary black bird across the Bristol Channel making this anything but a quick pier hop. There is also a Summer boat service that operates between Penarth and Clevedon but it's for foot passengers only meaning the only option we had is to take the long way round and head over the Severn bridge and down the M5 (at least it's toll-free to get out of Wales!).
By the time we made it to Clevedon it seemed everyone else had got there before us and they'd nabbed all the parking spaces. I drove around in circles for 15 minutes before I eventually found one but by then the rain had followed us over the Bristol Channel and we were parked well away from the pier. Things didn't improve when we finally made it to the pier as the woman in charge of the tollbooth wanted to charge me £5.90 for a 30 second photo opportunity at the entrance to the pier. I declined her offer but did get a 5 minute lecture on the new visitors centre they are having built, complete with diagram board, but despite appearing to show how interested I was she wouldn't budge on the price for ''insurance reasons''. So we took the photo on the sea wall and headed to the cafe across the road to spend the £5.90 on some excellent toast and home made jam. I can only imagine she was day off when the judges marked Clevedon: Pier of the Year in 2013.
Just along the coast from Clevedon is the grandly named seaside resort of Weston Super Mare which was once upon a time home to two very popular coastal piers. Over the last 25 years they have experienced wildly contrasting fortunes.....
It was built in 1867 and has the distinction of being the only pier in the UK that links an island with the mainland. It closed to the public in 1994 although the RNLI continued to launch their lifeboats from the lifeboat station on the island right up until last year. When the extremely brave men of the RNLI don't fancy the journey from one end of the pier to the other you know there's a problem and it's in need of a major renovation! The trouble is unless something is done very soon it's in real danger of going past the stage where renovation is an option. Join the fight to save the pier here.... http://www.birnbeck-pier.co.uk/
The other pier in the town has also had it's problems not least of which was the major fire it suffered in 2008 when someone forgot to turn off the chip pan. It was rebuilt in 2010 at great cost and now boasts a 4D cinema, show room, go-kart track and of course, an amusement arcade. It really is a Grand pier now and we've visited it many times before but on this occasion we decided to swerve the mandatory £1 per person entry fee and went instead to play crazy golf in the newly built Adventureland next to the big wheel on the promenade. For the first time in my crazy golf career I lost to Sam who hasn't shut up about it since'. I will have my revenge on this course or another!
After a spot of lunch in the seafront Weatherspoons we headed a little further along the coast to Burnham on Sea. Anyone who's ever been told to 'go take a long walk off a short pier' might want to give Burnham On Sea a try as it is home to the UK's shortest pier. At just 37 Metres long it poses the question 'what do you do with such a short pier? Well they decided to do what any self respecting pier owner would do and put a cafe/ice cream stand at the front and an amusement arcade at the back. Really, what more do you need? We tried our luck on various arcade games and after collecting a mountain of tickets walked away with a torch, a set of Eiffel Tower tins, a Minions £50 bank note and an oversized Mr Men pencil. I felt like I'd just scooped the jackpot on The Generation Game.
Laden down with our spoils we headed back to the car to carry on our journey down to Exeter (to meet Sam's nephew Dafydd) and then onto our first overnight stop in Okehampton. My brand new sat-nav did it's job perfectly and we arrived at the Travelodge without incident. Quite possibly a first.
#1 Penarth Pier (Built in 1895)
Despite being in two different countries the first two piers on our list are just 18 miles apart as the crow flies. Unfortunately we're driving an ageing BMW not catching a lift from a scary black bird across the Bristol Channel making this anything but a quick pier hop. There is also a Summer boat service that operates between Penarth and Clevedon but it's for foot passengers only meaning the only option we had is to take the long way round and head over the Severn bridge and down the M5 (at least it's toll-free to get out of Wales!).
By the time we made it to Clevedon it seemed everyone else had got there before us and they'd nabbed all the parking spaces. I drove around in circles for 15 minutes before I eventually found one but by then the rain had followed us over the Bristol Channel and we were parked well away from the pier. Things didn't improve when we finally made it to the pier as the woman in charge of the tollbooth wanted to charge me £5.90 for a 30 second photo opportunity at the entrance to the pier. I declined her offer but did get a 5 minute lecture on the new visitors centre they are having built, complete with diagram board, but despite appearing to show how interested I was she wouldn't budge on the price for ''insurance reasons''. So we took the photo on the sea wall and headed to the cafe across the road to spend the £5.90 on some excellent toast and home made jam. I can only imagine she was day off when the judges marked Clevedon: Pier of the Year in 2013.
#2 Clevedon (Built in
1869 with rails used by Isambard Kingdom Brunel and purchased from
the Great Western Railway).
Just along the coast from Clevedon is the grandly named seaside resort of Weston Super Mare which was once upon a time home to two very popular coastal piers. Over the last 25 years they have experienced wildly contrasting fortunes.....
#3 Birnbeck Pier - Weston
Super Mare
It was built in 1867 and has the distinction of being the only pier in the UK that links an island with the mainland. It closed to the public in 1994 although the RNLI continued to launch their lifeboats from the lifeboat station on the island right up until last year. When the extremely brave men of the RNLI don't fancy the journey from one end of the pier to the other you know there's a problem and it's in need of a major renovation! The trouble is unless something is done very soon it's in real danger of going past the stage where renovation is an option. Join the fight to save the pier here.... http://www.birnbeck-pier.co.uk/
#4 Grand Pier - Weston
Super Mare (built in 1904)
The other pier in the town has also had it's problems not least of which was the major fire it suffered in 2008 when someone forgot to turn off the chip pan. It was rebuilt in 2010 at great cost and now boasts a 4D cinema, show room, go-kart track and of course, an amusement arcade. It really is a Grand pier now and we've visited it many times before but on this occasion we decided to swerve the mandatory £1 per person entry fee and went instead to play crazy golf in the newly built Adventureland next to the big wheel on the promenade. For the first time in my crazy golf career I lost to Sam who hasn't shut up about it since'. I will have my revenge on this course or another!
After a spot of lunch in the seafront Weatherspoons we headed a little further along the coast to Burnham on Sea. Anyone who's ever been told to 'go take a long walk off a short pier' might want to give Burnham On Sea a try as it is home to the UK's shortest pier. At just 37 Metres long it poses the question 'what do you do with such a short pier? Well they decided to do what any self respecting pier owner would do and put a cafe/ice cream stand at the front and an amusement arcade at the back. Really, what more do you need? We tried our luck on various arcade games and after collecting a mountain of tickets walked away with a torch, a set of Eiffel Tower tins, a Minions £50 bank note and an oversized Mr Men pencil. I felt like I'd just scooped the jackpot on The Generation Game.
#5 Burnham On Sea (Built in 1914)
Laden down with our spoils we headed back to the car to carry on our journey down to Exeter (to meet Sam's nephew Dafydd) and then onto our first overnight stop in Okehampton. My brand new sat-nav did it's job perfectly and we arrived at the Travelodge without incident. Quite possibly a first.
Day 1 complete –
Distance travelled: 180 miles. Piers visited: 5
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