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Clevedon pier (From an article by the Clevedon Pier & Heritage Trust)
A Victorian seaside pier that was constructed from ‘Barlow rail’, discarded from Brunel's broad-gauge South Wales Railway. The structure, which included a Toll House, with accommodation for the Piermaster was completed at a coast of £10,000 and handed over to the Town on 6th February 1869.
For twenty years Clevedon pier provided a new, fast route over to South Wales. However, the opening of the Severn Railway Tunnel on 1st December 1886 began to snatch away the passengers that might have travelled to Clevedon for the transfer via the steamers. Business on the pier faltered and in 1891 the pier was transferred to Clevedon Council, just at a time when costly pierhead improvements had become essential.
However, it was not all doom and gloom. The sum of £10,000 was borrowed from the town, to pay for a new pierhead and a landing stage. These consisted of twenty-four massive iron columns and forty-two greenheat piles, 25 foot long. The new landing stage was built at an angle to the pierhead, in order to align with the prevailing Bristol Channel current. The rehabilitated pier was re-opened on 3rd April 1893 by Lady Elton.
The role of the railways may have reduced the fortunes of the pier, but the steady rise in the number of excursion ships in the Bristol Channel opened up a flourishing new traffic flow. The White Funnel Fleet paddlers were regular callers, and Peter and Alec Campbell also arrived with the paddle steamers Waverley in 1886, Ravenswood (1891), Westward Ho (1894), Cambria (1895) and Britannia (1896).
The pier became a popular seaside attraction, although it had to undergo some rebuilding after the timber landing stage, which had deteriorated, was replaced by the present pre-cast concrete structure in 1913.
However, just over 100 years later on the morning of 17th October 1970, when under annual load testing for insurance purposes, the two end spans failed and collapsed into the sea….More here: www.clevedonpier.com/history.htm
Photo: January 2009.
We stayed overnight at the Lesedi Cultural Village. It it s real cultural experience showing the village life of the Basotho, Ndebele, Pedi, Xhosa & Zulu people. We were treated to a tribal dance show and "Nyama Choma" the greatest African feast where we sampled traditional dishes from around the African continent.
Comfort and convenience and peace at the Leamington Motel in Cambridge. Affordable and luxurious. m.leamingtonmotel.co.nz/boutique-accommodation-cambridge