The Coastal Town That They Forgot To Close Down

When I drew back the curtains on Saturday morning I was greeted with a scene straight off a Xmas card, the garden was covered with at least four inches of snow and the purple-blue skies looked decidedly ominous. Was that going to spoil our fun? Hell, no! We dug out our thermals, pulled on our coats, jumped in the van and headed to the seaside.

Being Midlanders we couldn't live any further from the sea, which, as self-confessed beach bums, couldn't be more unfair. Our annual trips to India always involve at least a fortnight lazing on a beach but it must be almost twenty years since we'd last set foot on British sand. When we discovered that Weston-Super-Mare, our closest seaside town, had over twenty charity shops we decided to combine a vintage shopping expedition with some bracing sea air. Despite it only being a two hour drive away from Walsall, we'd only visited once before and never together. My sole visit was hedonistic night out clubbing in the early 1990s and, strangely, I can't remember much about it. 

  I'm just quoting Morrissey in my blog title, Weston doesn't really need to be shut down.
Apart from the odd '60s carbuncle blighting the skyline (what on earth were the council's planning department thinking?) the view was gorgeous and there was no evidence of the snow we had in the Midlands, the skies were beautiful, the Spring sunshine lovely and, if you kept your coat buttoned up, you hardly noticed the Arctic breeze. 

There were two branches of Wetherspoons in Weston Super Mare. We visited the Cabot Court Hotel on the seafront (on the right hand side of the photo, behind the toy train).

A 'Spoons with a view! Could this be the only Wetherspoons in the UK where you can see the sea from your table?

  

We liked the seaside themed interior which included classic naughty postcards and vintage swimwear. The beer garden looked like a fantastic sun trap (although we were horrified by the number of parents allowing their kids to wee in the prettily planted gardens rather than taking them to the toilets.)

 The Neo-Georgian Winter Gardens Pavilion opened in 1927. Some of the final scenes from The Remains of the Day were filmed here. 

Nothing more life affirming than the sound of the waves and a huge sky.

I quite fancied a ride on the Wheel of Weston but Jon put his foot down, he's terrified of heights.

There was quite a queue for donkey rides.

But by far the most popular method to travel around Weston Super Mare was by mobility scooter, obviously Somerset's answer to Benidorm (apologies to non-Brits, it's a sit-com about holiday makers on the Spanish Costas). 

You took your life in your hands trying to avoid being mown down on the pavements and had to clamber over row upon row of them parked outside charity shops. Amazing how ones ability to walk miraculously improves when there's a £1 clearance rail...

These seagulls were massive. We chose to eat in Wetherspoons, if one of these bad boys took a fancy to a bag of chips eaten on the seafront you wouldn't stand a fighting chance.

Obviously a day at the British seaside means taking home a couple of sticks of Weston rock. 

So what were Weston Super Mare's famed chazzas like? Plentiful and well priced, mostly modern stuff but a lot of it was the nicer High Street stuff - Laura Ashley, Boden, Monsoon, White Stuff - rather than endless rails of tatty fast fashion. The vintage we found was pretty good - there was a fair amount of it but we only buy what we really like not just because it's old. Not all vintage is good vintage.

Here's what we bought - an Indian block printed kaftan and some red leather clogs.

Two vintage scarves (one acetate, hand rolled & made in Japan, the other by St Michael), St Michael peasant blouse and a block printed triangle tie sun top by Indian Imports of Rhode Island, NYC.,

An Indian embroidered cheesecloth tunic, Nepali brass pendant and Nepali 100% wool poncho.

Worsted wool trousers, Bri Nylon leisure shirt, Christian Dior bow tie & Tootal scarf.

1950s photo album (makes us want to take Gilbert off to the South of France just so we can fill the album), Spanish dolls (I've got a plan) and a ridiculous album from 1964 which claims to help you to recapture your holiday memories of the Continent with tunes from Germany, Italy, Spain, Greece, France and......Calcutta (!)

Wearing: 1950s Snuggle car coat (charity shop), Cotton On skinnies (car boot sale), Tootal scarf (Vintage fair), Leather Baker boy cap (End of the Road Festival), Vintage glasses (reglazed in Goa)

Weston Super Mare was super. Charity shops, cheap pubs and a beach and, if you want to stay down there, hotel rooms start at £22.50. A bargain hunter's ideal destination!

Wearing: Psychedelic maxi (jumble sale, 2010), Saluki 1970s fake fur (car boot, 2011), Leather boots (charity shop), 1960s sunglasses (Vintage fair)

Linking to Visible Monday with Patti and the gang.

See you soon.