Knightstone and Steep Holm

The Bristol Channel between England and South Wales has a number of small, rocky islands. Today's photograph shows Knightstone and, in the distance, Steep Holm. The former is now attached to Weston-super-Mare by a permanent causeway rather than the original shingle bank. Steep Holm is today a bird reserve with no permanent human residents but has been at various times a place for sportsmen, a defensive site with cannons, and part of a chain of fortified sites designed to impede invasion.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Salt-water rusted door

On a walk around Knightstone Island, Weston-super-Mare, we came upon a metal door that must have been regularly lashed by waves and spray for years. The builders had obviously known that the door would be subject to extreme conditions and therefore selected metal for its construction. They must also have known that salt-water corrosion leading to replacement was inevitable and they will have reckoned on a reasonable life-span numbering years for the door. What they probably didn't do is predict that as it started to succumb to the environment it would develop beautiful complementary colours, textures and shapes.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Nikon D5300

Odeon Cinema, Weston-super-Mare

When the Odeon cinema was built in Weston-super-Mare in 1935 (architect T. Cecil Hewitt) it must have looked like the future had arrived. Its size, its Art Deco/Streamline aesthetic, its presence on the street corner, and the virtual absence of ornament, all marked it as different from most of the buildings being erected around that year. Only some of the blocky "Moderne" houses with their flat roofs, horizontal windows and glazing bars, and their stark white paint could compete. The Odeon still looks great today. The faience tiles in basket weave pattern have lasted well, as has the original windows and glazing and the lettering on the tower. The crowning glory (literally) is the tower with its twelve short columns and flat roof, the climax of a necessary vertical accent among all the horizontals.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Knightstone Island, Weston-super-Mare

Knightstone Island was originally connected to the mainland at Weston-super-Mare by a natural pebble ridge that was submerged at high tide. in 1824 the owner built a causeway above high tide and a low pier for boats. In subsequent decades successive owners built hotels, swimming baths, a theatre and other buildings on the island. The whole development struggled in the second half of the twentieth century. The main Pavilion closed and plans for leisure developments came to naught. However, in 2006-7 the whole island was redeveloped, old buildings were refurbished and many flats were built to complement the commercial properties. Today it is an asset to the town.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Birnbeck Pier, Weston-super-Mare

The sad sight seen in this photograph is the slowly collapsing Birnbeck Pier at the northern end of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. It was built in 1867 and is the only pier in Britain that links the mainland to an island. Unusually, it has a jetty that projects from the main pavilion that was used by ships bringing day visitors to the pier from towns along the Bristol Channel. The pier was initially popular but suffered steady decline over the years, despite successive attempts to revive it. It finally closed to the public in 1994. A lifeboat station used the pier for much of its life but this closed in 2015. The Grade 2 listed structure is, unsurprisingly, on Historic England's "Heritage at Risk" register.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Grand Pier, Weston-super-Mare

The piers of the British Isles give visitors a feeling of being at sea without leaving dry land. They also offer a range of seaside entertainments. However, their location makes them subject to damage by stormy seas, and their lightweight structure means they are susceptible to fire. Many have been lost and seriously truncated by such events. Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier was opened in 1904. In 1930 the seaward end, including the pavilion, suffered a major fire. It was restored at a cost of £60,000. Rebuilding took three years. In 2008 the seaward pavilion was again destroyed by fire, and once again it had to be rebuilt, this time after only two years, but at a cost of £39 million.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Westward Ho

The village of Westward Ho! (including exclamation mark) near Bideford, Devon, was developed as a holiday destination in the 1860s. The developers took its name from Charles Kingsley's popular 1855 novel of that name which was set near Bideford. It subsequently became a popular name for a number of British sailing and powered boats. The small ferry in the foreground of this photograph was built in 1987 in Ardrossan, Scotland, and it was used on Cromarty Firth until 2010. In 2012 it was bought for use as a pleasure boat taking tourists from Weston-super-Mare (where it lies above) to the nearby islands of Flat Holm and Steep Holm, and renamed, Westward Ho (no exclamation mark). Interestingly the deck of the ship can be modified to carry 10 tons of freight or a single vehicle. This feature makes it Britain's smallest car ferry.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10

Boats, Weston-super-Mare

The Bristol Channel at Weston-super-Mare is wide enough to feel like the sea rather than an estuary. This feeling is enhanced by the presence of two islands, piers, a fine promenade and a scattering of boats. The fact that the beach is very shallow and hence the water is distant at low tide means that most boats are small and the larger vessels are presumably in nearby marinas. This colourful trio caught my eye at both low and high tide but looked better, photographically speaking, without the sea.

photo © T. Boughen     Camera: Olympus OMD E-M10