My goodness ... July this year was hot. It was so hot that when we were at home, Martin and I were just flopping round moaning that it was too hot and not really wanting to do anything.
It was just so hot I thought it might be nice to have a day at the seaside, where there might at least be just a hint of a breeze. I kind of only half jokingly suggested it to Martin, who is not the most spontaneous of souls, and nearly fell off my chair when he said it might be nice, but not today, let’s go tomorrow.
Well, lots of discussion ensued. We live smack bang in the middle of the country so it would be a fair old trek. Google maps told us Southport was the nearest and the quickest to get to ... assuming the M6 was playing ball.
In the end we opted for Weston-Super-Mare. It was just a bit further afield but we thought the M5 might be less likely to give us any grief. We could always do Southport another time.
We set out about 8.30am, hoping to give the work traffic chance to clear and, apart from a sticky bit on the M42, not far from home, we had a pretty good run. We were driving along the sea front at Weston at 11.00am. Yes, we needed binoculars to see the sea, but we knew we would arrive at low tide so weren’t too disappointed.
We ended up parking in the shopping centre multi story car park, which was a bit cheaper than parking along the front and we were about a two minute walk from the grand pier, which was our first stop.
When we first arrived we were a bit disappointed to find it was actually quite cloudy, but not to be perturbed we headed out along the pier.
I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know that we skipped breakfast so were looking for somewhere nice to fill up before having a good wander.
We were very tempted by the fish and chip place on the pier but decided it was a bit early and we could perhaps have fish and chips later. We ended up having doorstep sandwiches in Tiffany’s at the very end of the pier and very nice it was too. Spotlessly clean, Air conditioned, so lovely and cool and with great views across the beach, where we watched both adults and kids mud sliding their way to the sea for a dip.
Feeling refreshed we had a quick wander around the arcade on the pier, which was an absolute riot of noise and colour. There was so much going on but we couldn’t wait to get back outside ...
The sun had come out, there were blue skies to be seen and there was a refreshing breeze in the air ... exactly what we had been hoping for ...
We made our way back along the pier and decided to start our wandering by heading south, taking in all of the sights and sounds of this traditional English seaside on the most glorious of days ...
We were aiming for the sand sculpture exhibition which we’d noticed on our drive in, as we both fancied having a look around ...
It cost us £4 each to enter, which was a bit more than we expected but there was a good display of sculptures in this year’s theme of the circus and lots of information on how the sculptures are put together ...
There were just so many and they were all brilliant, we'd never really seen anything quite like it and I took loads and loads of photos ...
We really enjoyed the exhibition, though it was blisteringly hot with not a breath of air. Ice lollies were definitely the order of the day on our way out ...
We carried on heading south, this time aiming for the fun fair, not that we wanted to go on anything, but we both like watching. It was so colourful and there were plenty of places to sit and chill for a while, as well as being a nice breeze blowing through ...
We decided to head back and made our way back along the beach ...
Weston is a really traditional English beach resort with donkey rides and candy floss, cafes and plenty of opportunities for fish and chips.
It’s not our normal choice of place, as it's a bit busy for us, but it was perfect for what we were looking for from a scorching hot day trip to the seaside.
Back at the Grand Pier we decided to carry on walking north as we wanted to see more of the promontory that we could see. This turned out to be Knightstone Island, which has a very interesting history.
It was a lot quieter at this end of the prom and home to the outdoor bathing pool ...
Sadly we couldn't walk right round the island as there is some renovation work going on but we did retrace our steps and walk back round the other way, past beautiful old buildings, to find Dr Fox's Tea Room ...
This was a lovely spot, but it was close to closing time for the tea room so we didn't get to enjoy cake in the sunshine. The views were amazing and the tide was definitely back in ...
By now we were both more than ready for dinner so wandered back along the prom towards the pier to check a place I'd spotted earlier with seating outside on a terrace overlooking the sea.
It ended up being the Cabot Court Wetherspoons ...
We managed to grab a table on the terrace in the sunshine with a view to die for ...
We were both starving so had a selection of starters to share ...
Followed by pizza ...
It was lovely to be able to sit outside, resting our legs after a good walk, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine, looking at the sea and stuffing our faces with good food.
What a day. There was time for one last selfie before heading back for the car ...
We decided to head back north along the coast road and stumbled upon Birnbeck Pier ...
In it's heyday it had clearly been something quite special and was the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an island.
Sadly, the pier closed to the public in 1994 and now remains in pretty much a derelict state. It is easy to imagine how impressive it was back in the day though, with lots of visitors and regular steamers docking ...
Now it really was time to head for home so we continued along the estuary back up to the M5. We left about 5.30pm and it was the perfect time. We didn't even hit traffic on the M42 and were back home in a couple of hours.
We'd had the loveliest of days. It was most definitely worth the journey and Weston was a real treat. I am sure we will be back 😀
It was just so hot I thought it might be nice to have a day at the seaside, where there might at least be just a hint of a breeze. I kind of only half jokingly suggested it to Martin, who is not the most spontaneous of souls, and nearly fell off my chair when he said it might be nice, but not today, let’s go tomorrow.
Well, lots of discussion ensued. We live smack bang in the middle of the country so it would be a fair old trek. Google maps told us Southport was the nearest and the quickest to get to ... assuming the M6 was playing ball.
In the end we opted for Weston-Super-Mare. It was just a bit further afield but we thought the M5 might be less likely to give us any grief. We could always do Southport another time.
We set out about 8.30am, hoping to give the work traffic chance to clear and, apart from a sticky bit on the M42, not far from home, we had a pretty good run. We were driving along the sea front at Weston at 11.00am. Yes, we needed binoculars to see the sea, but we knew we would arrive at low tide so weren’t too disappointed.We ended up parking in the shopping centre multi story car park, which was a bit cheaper than parking along the front and we were about a two minute walk from the grand pier, which was our first stop.
When we first arrived we were a bit disappointed to find it was actually quite cloudy, but not to be perturbed we headed out along the pier.
I’m sure you won’t be surprised to know that we skipped breakfast so were looking for somewhere nice to fill up before having a good wander.We were very tempted by the fish and chip place on the pier but decided it was a bit early and we could perhaps have fish and chips later. We ended up having doorstep sandwiches in Tiffany’s at the very end of the pier and very nice it was too. Spotlessly clean, Air conditioned, so lovely and cool and with great views across the beach, where we watched both adults and kids mud sliding their way to the sea for a dip.
The sun had come out, there were blue skies to be seen and there was a refreshing breeze in the air ... exactly what we had been hoping for ...
We made our way back along the pier and decided to start our wandering by heading south, taking in all of the sights and sounds of this traditional English seaside on the most glorious of days ...
We were aiming for the sand sculpture exhibition which we’d noticed on our drive in, as we both fancied having a look around ...It cost us £4 each to enter, which was a bit more than we expected but there was a good display of sculptures in this year’s theme of the circus and lots of information on how the sculptures are put together ...
We really enjoyed the exhibition, though it was blisteringly hot with not a breath of air. Ice lollies were definitely the order of the day on our way out ...We carried on heading south, this time aiming for the fun fair, not that we wanted to go on anything, but we both like watching. It was so colourful and there were plenty of places to sit and chill for a while, as well as being a nice breeze blowing through ...
Back at the Grand Pier we decided to carry on walking north as we wanted to see more of the promontory that we could see. This turned out to be Knightstone Island, which has a very interesting history.It was a lot quieter at this end of the prom and home to the outdoor bathing pool ...
Sadly we couldn't walk right round the island as there is some renovation work going on but we did retrace our steps and walk back round the other way, past beautiful old buildings, to find Dr Fox's Tea Room ...This was a lovely spot, but it was close to closing time for the tea room so we didn't get to enjoy cake in the sunshine. The views were amazing and the tide was definitely back in ...By now we were both more than ready for dinner so wandered back along the prom towards the pier to check a place I'd spotted earlier with seating outside on a terrace overlooking the sea.It ended up being the Cabot Court Wetherspoons ...
We managed to grab a table on the terrace in the sunshine with a view to die for ...We were both starving so had a selection of starters to share ...Followed by pizza ...It was lovely to be able to sit outside, resting our legs after a good walk, enjoying the late afternoon sunshine, looking at the sea and stuffing our faces with good food.What a day. There was time for one last selfie before heading back for the car ...
We decided to head back north along the coast road and stumbled upon Birnbeck Pier ...In it's heyday it had clearly been something quite special and was the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an island.Sadly, the pier closed to the public in 1994 and now remains in pretty much a derelict state. It is easy to imagine how impressive it was back in the day though, with lots of visitors and regular steamers docking ...
Now it really was time to head for home so we continued along the estuary back up to the M5. We left about 5.30pm and it was the perfect time. We didn't even hit traffic on the M42 and were back home in a couple of hours.
We'd had the loveliest of days. It was most definitely worth the journey and Weston was a real treat. I am sure we will be back 😀
*********************************************************************************
No comments:
Post a Comment
Thanks for taking time to comment on my blog. I love to hear what people think about what Martin and I have been up to.