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Weston-super-Mare
Piers & Excursion Boats

This page is devoted to postcards and images of the piers and excursion boats of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset on the Bristol Channel.

The grade II* listed Birnbeck Pier at Weston-super-Mare was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867. The gothic toll house and pierhead buildings were designed by local architect Hans Price. The pier is now in need of extensive work and is closed to the public.

The Grand Pier is privately-owned and is one of three piers in the town together with Birnbeck Pier, which stands derelict awaiting possible restoration and the much shorter SeaQuarium aquarium built towards the south end of the seafront. It is supported by 600 iron piles,[1] and is 400 metres (1,300 ft) long. It was been seriously damaged by fire in 1930 and 2008. It is due to re-open in 2010 following rebuilding following the 2008 fire.

Westward Ho was built in 1987 in Ardrossan for the ferry service which operated across the mouth of Cromarty Firth between Cromarty and Nigg. In 2010, the Cromarty Ferry Company replaced the Cromarty Rose with a new ferry. Cromarty Rose was sold to Martin Woolls (now MW Marine) at Weston-super-Mare on the Bristol Channel and renamed Westward Ho after the P&A Campbell vessels of the same name (Martin having previously worked for the company on MV Balmoral). In 2012 Westward Ho runs trips to Flatholm:- www.mwmarine.org



Sections on This Page
Weston Piers
   Birnbeck Pier
   Grand Pier
Excursion Boats
    Beach Boats
   
P&A Campbell
   
Bristol Queen - Martin Woolls - 1938 motor vessel
   Westward Ho - Martin Woolls - ex-Cromarty Rose

Associated Pages:-
   South-West Piers
   Ferry Postcards
   Cruise Ship Postcards
   Ocean Liner Postcards
   Simplon Postcards Home Page
   Simplon Facebook Page - Simplon Postcards facebook page

References
  Trip Out Guides - Written and published by G.P.Hamer - editions from 1977 to 2009
      
Trip Out Guides are available from Geoffrey Hamer, PO Box 485, Southall, UB1 9BH
  Cruising Monthly - www.cruisingmonthly.com
  Wikipedia - www.wikipedia.org

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Weston-super-Mare
Piers & Excursion Boats

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Weston Piers

Birnbeck Pier - The Old Pier


The grade II* listed Birnbeck Pier at Weston-super-Mare was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867. The gothic toll house and pierhead buildings were designed by local architect Hans Price. The pier is in need of extensive work and is closed to the public.

Birnbeck Pier is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an island just off shore. A proposal in 1845 to link Birnbeck Island to the mainland at the western end of Worlebury Hill saw work start on a suspension bridge two years later. A strike by stone masons during which a storm damaged the little that had been built saw an end to that scheme.

A new proposal came in 1864 to form a company to build a pier across to the island. This was funded by 2,000 shares which raised �20,000. Cecil Hugh Smyth-Pigott, the four year old son of the lord of the manor, laid the foundation stone on 28 October 1864 when a public holiday was declared in the town and a celebratory dinner was held in the Town Hall.

The main pier is 1150 feet (351m) long and 20 feet (6m) wide. It has abutments at either end, making its construction more like a bridge than other pleasure piers. Fifteen groups of piles support a continuous lattice girder, each set comprising four piles screwed into the river bed at an angle with an X-brace between each adjacent pair. There were problems with oscillations in the structure when bands marched on the pier, both on the opening day and again in 1886, and so further horizontal cross braces were added to the piles. A landing jetty extended on the west side of the island to allow steamers to bring day trippers to Weston-super-Mare from ports on both the English and Welsh side of the Bristol Channel.

The pier opened on 6 June 1867. The toll to walk on the pier was 1d, but this was quickly raised to 2d and 120,000 people paid the toll in the first three months. A new wooden northern jetty was added in 1872 which allowed the removal of the original western landing place. Another jetty was added on the south west corner in 1898 which reached deep water even at low tide, thus allowing steamers to use the pier at all states of the tide. This was damaged in a gale in 1903, rebuilt in 1909 but closed in 1916. It was finally removed in 1923. The northern jetty had also been damaged in the 1903 storm but was replaced by the present steel structure in 1905.

A second pier, the Grand Pier, was opened in the centre of Weston-super-Mare in 1904. Although it was provided with a steamer landing it was seldom used due to difficult currents around the structure. Visitors to the town were able to catch an electric tram from the pier approach road at Birnbeck.

Many visitors arriving on the steamers never left the pier, instead they made use of the cafe, pavilion, amusements and funfair on Birnbeck Island, which is why the Grand Pier also tried to create a steamer landing stage. These were destroyed by fire on 26 December 1897 and replaced by the present buildings, although these have been altered over the years. An extension on iron supports along the south side of the island was opened in 1909 which allowed a larger area for the amusements. This was not built to the proper specifications so was demolished in 1912 but a larger concrete platform was constructed in 1932.

In 1941 the pier was taken over by the Admiralty as an outpost of the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD). It was commissioned as HMS Birnbeck and was used for secret weapons testing including the 'Bouncing bomb'.

In 1962 the Birnbeck Pier Company sold the pier to P & A Campbell, the steamer operators. After the withdrawal of their ships it was sold to John Critchley who redeveloped it as a 'Victorian pleasure centre' which even had special permission to issue its own currency to visitors. There have since been several proposals to make the pier a commercial success again, including converting it into a hotel, casino, residential use, or the centre of a marina.

The most successful steamer company serving the Bristol Channel was P & A Campbell's White Funnel fleet. Their operations were suspended during the Second World War but afterwards the number of passengers carried decreased with the availability of cheap foreign holidays and the opening on the Severn Bridge in the 1960s. Regular ferries ceased serving Birnbeck in 1971 and the final excursion called on 19 October 1979. The excursion vessels PS Waverley and MV Balmoral still operate in the Bristol Channel, but any calls at Weston are made by a connecting tender from Knightstone Harbour.



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier water chute, posted 1909



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)



Weston-super-Mare Birnbeck Pier (also referred to as the Old Pier)







Grand Pier - The New Pier


The Grand Pier is privately-owned and is one of three piers in the town together with Birnbeck Pier, which stands derelict awaiting possible restoration and the much shorter SeaQuarium aquarium built towards the south end of the seafront. It is supported by 600 iron piles,[1] and is 400 metres (1,300 ft) long. It was been seriously damaged by fire in 1930 and 2008. It is due to re-open in 2010 following rebuilding following the 2008 fire.

Work started on the pier in 1903, with P.Munroe acting as engineer, opening in June 1904. At the pier's end was a 2,000 seat theatre which was used as a music hall and for opera, stage plays and ballet. On 16 May 1907 an extension of the pier measuring 500 yards (1,500 ft) was opened, with the intention that the pier would be used for excursion steamers, to compete with the older Birnbeck Pier. Berthing at the pier was difficult, however, and the extension was later demolished.

The theatre was destroyed by fire on 13th January 1930. The pier was sold to Leonard Guy, who opened a �60,000 new pavilion three years later. This second pavilion housed a large undercover funfair in place of the theatre. The pier was sold again in 1946 to A.Brenner, who improved the pier's facilities with new shops and an amusement arcade in the early 1970s. The pier became a Grade II listed building in 1974 and it won the National Piers Society Pier of the Year award in 2001.

Brenner sold the pier in February 2008 to brother and sister partnership Kerry and Michelle Michael. The pier immediately underwent a multi-million-pound revamp. �1 million was spent installing a new go-kart track, a fully licenced bar, and a climbing wall into the pavilion. However at on 28 July 2008, a fire started in the pavilion. Avon Fire and Rescue Service deployed 13 fire engines, special appliances, and more than 85 fire fighters to tackle the blaze, but the building was soon destroyed.

Workmen began dismantling the wreckage in September 2008 and a design competition for the new pavilion was won by the Bristol-based Angus Meek Architects. On 7 December 2008 it was announced that a slowly rotating 91 metres (299 ft) tall observation tower was proposed along with the new building. It was hoped to re-open the pier in the summer of 2010, but it was not yet ready when I visited on 18th September 2010.



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier with the original pavilion



Postcard of the pier head pavilion on the Grand Pier, posted 1911
GRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.ukGRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Postcard of the pier head pavilion on the Grand Pier, posted 1901
GRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.ukGRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Postcard (repro) of the Grand Pier with the original pavilion, posted 1960s
GRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.ukGRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier, with the steamer landing extension (opened 1907) under construction. Posted 1912



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier with the original pavilion



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier with the original pavilion (also referred to as the New Pier as on this card)



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier with the 1933 pavilion



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier with the 1933 pavilion



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier with the 1933 pavilion



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier with the 1933 pavilion



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier with the 1933 pavilion



Weston-super-Mare Grand Pier with the 1933 pavilion, plus a bizarre method of transportation - The Whirlybird



The rebuilt Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare before re-opening
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
GRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



The rebuilt Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare before re-opening
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
GRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



The rebuilt Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare before re-opening
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
GRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



The rebuilt Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare before re-opening
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
GRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



The rebuilt Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare before re-opening
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
GRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



The rebuilt Grand Pier at Weston-super-Mare before re-opening
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
GRAND PIER - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk







Excursion Boats

Beach Boats


Postcard of beach excursion boats seen from the Grand Pier
Beach Boats - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Postcard of beach pleasure boat and the Grand Pier
Beach Boats - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Postcard of beach excursion boats seen from the Grand Pier
Beach Boats - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.ukBeach Boats - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk







P&A Campbell

The most successful steamer company serving the Bristol Channel was P & A Campbell's White Funnel fleet. They dominated sailings to Weston for many years. Their operations were suspended during the Second World War but afterwards the number of passengers carried decreased with the availability of cheap foreign holidays and the opening on the Severn Bridge in the 1960s. Campbell's owned the Birnbeck Pier from 1962 until the cessation of their sailings. Regular ferries ceased serving Birnbeck in 1971 and the final excursion called on 19 October 1979. The excursion vessels PS Waverley and MV Balmoral still operate in the Bristol Channel, but any calls at Weston are made by a connecting tender from Knightstone Harbour.

Additional postcards of P&A Campbell vessels at Weston will be added


P&A Campbell paddle steamer Cambria at Birkbeck Pier
CAMBRIA - P&A Campbell - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk







Bristol Queen
(Built: 1938 - Martin Woolls/MW Marine: 1999- )


Bristol Queen was built as the Leven of the Caledonian Steam Packet Co in 1938. She was sold to Belfast in 1965 but almost immediately came to West Country. She first ran with South Western Steam Navigation at Paignton, then passed to Barrow 1970 as Pride of the Bay where she was much modified and stayed to early 1985. She ran in Jersey 1985-99 and then came to Weston-super-Mare for Martin Woolls as Bristol Queen where she runs Bristol Channel excursions and in 2012 acts as ferry to Flatholm.


Bristol Queen based at Weston-super-Mare
Photo: © Mike Tedstone



Bristol Queen based at Weston-super-Mare
Photo: © Chris Jones.



Bristol Queen based at Weston-super-Mare
Photo: © Chris Jones.



Bristol Queen based at Weston-super-Mare
Photo: © Chris Jones.



Westward Ho (ex-Cromarty Rose) at Knightstone harbour, Weston-super-Mare, with Bristol Queen
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
WESTWARD HO - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Westward Ho (ex-Cromarty Rose) at Knightstone harbour, Weston-super-Mare, with Bristol Queen
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
WESTWARD HO - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk







Westward Ho
(Built: 1987 - Martin Woolls: 2010- )


Westward Ho was built in 1987 in Ardrossan as the Cromarty Rose for the ferry service which operated across the mouth of Cromarty Firth between Cromarty and Nigg. In 2010, the Cromarty Ferry Company replaced the Cromarty Rose with a new ferry. Cromarty Rose was sold to Martin Woolls at Weston-super-Mare on the Bristol Channel, arriving in June 2010, and renamed Westward Ho after the P&A Campbell vessels of the same name (Martin having previously worked for the company on MV Balmoral). In 2012 Westward Ho runs services to the island of Flatholm from Knightstone Harbour at Weston, along with the 1938 motor vessel Bristol Queen (ex-Leven of the Caledonian SP Co).


Westward Ho (ex-Cromarty Rose) at Knightstone harbour, Weston-super-Mare, with Bristol Queen
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
WESTWARD HO - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Westward Ho (ex-Cromarty Rose) at Knightstone harbour, Weston-super-Mare, with Bristol Queen
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
WESTWARD HO - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Westward Ho (ex-Cromarty Rose) at Knightstone harbour, Weston-super-Mare, with Bristol Queen
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
WESTWARD HO - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Westward Ho (ex-Cromarty Rose) at Knightstone harbour, Weston-super-Mare, with Bristol Queen
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
WESTWARD HO - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Westward Ho (ex-Cromarty Rose) at Knightstone harbour, Weston-super-Mare, with Bristol Queen
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
WESTWARD HO - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Westward Ho (ex-Cromarty Rose) at Knightstone harbour, Weston-super-Mare, with Bristol Queen
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
WESTWARD HO - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk



Westward Ho (ex-Cromarty Rose) at Knightstone harbour, Weston-super-Mare, with Bristol Queen
Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010
WESTWARD HO - Weston-super-Mare - Photo: � Ian Boyle, 18th September 2010 - www.simplonpc.co.uk







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