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Birmingham on Sea

Elizabeth Redmond said:
I think Lerryngal is right love or hate, i love Weston but people have often said Weston!
when i have said i am going there as if i had said i'm going to the moon,but thats fine
it would be very funny if we all were the same i have put some photographs in an album
old 1930ish i can't figure out how to put them on the thread but i shall keep trying there are only a couple so far,there was a fire in 1929 that destroyed the grand pier and it had
to be rebuilt then ,its amazing to see how people dressed to go to the beach, liz
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This could help you with the date:)

Today’s blaze is the second fire to hit the pier.
The original building, which stretched more than a mile out to sea, was damaged in 1930 and rebuilt, before re-opening in 1933.
 
Know what you mean lerryngal, I don't like Blackpool (except the trams) but Weston has a long way to go before it compares to Blackpools brash image. There is beautiful Somerset countryside and pretty villages only 10 minutes ride out of Weston. Kewstoke, Uphill and a bit further out Axbridge, Cheddar and a host of Mendip Hills villages not to mention those in the Somerset levels towards Glastonbury so it's a good centre to explore from. (Think I'll apply for a job with the WSM Publicity department now:D)
 
Motorman Mike said it Weston and Blackpool so different, Cheddar, Mendip Hills,i have always been able to find somewhere peaceful to sit and enjoy the sun,read or just be
quiet, even on the beaches,liz
 
I agree with Mike Somerset is a very beautiful place,so is Cornwall but i find it a bit remote and to many one horse towns

Mossy:D:D:D
 
Went to the carnival last night,took Leo my great grandson it gets better every year superb

Mossy
 
Sounds good (wish i was there) lol what you call that poscard speak
 
Glad you enjoyed the Carnival Mossy. I like Cornwall and me having a Somerset accent helps me to blend in down there but they call obvious visitors Grockles. Be interesting to know their true meaning of the word.
 
Here you are Mike



What is the origin of the word 'grockle'?​


This slightly dismissive term for a 'tourist' was, as several of our readers have noted, first popularized because of its use by the characters in the film The System (1962), which is set in the Devon resort of Torquay during the tourist season. Some older dictionaries suggested that this might be a West Country dialect word. Other scholars have suggested that it might originate in a comparison of red-faced tourists (in baggy clothing with handkerchiefs on their heads) to 'Grock', the famous clown. The word grockle was indeed picked up by the script-writer from the locals during filming in Torquay. However, it was apparently not an 'old local dialect word'. According to research by a local journalist in the mid-1990s, the word in fact originated from a strip cartoon in the children's comic Dandy entitled 'Danny and his Grockle'. (The grockle was a magical dragon-like creature.) A local man, who had had a summer job at a swimming pool as a youngster, said that he had used the term as a nickname for a small elderly lady who was a regular customer one season. During banter in the pub among the summer workers, the term then became generalized as a term for summer visitors. This seems to have occurred in, or only shortly before, the summer in which The System was filmed: we know of no instances of the word dating from before the release of The System (though one or two people from the south-west remain convinced that they knew it before then).

Mossy
 
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I was a bus driver in Torbay in the early 90s, and a local was standing on the platform moaning about all the B.....y grockles in Torquay filling the buses especially the Brummies on holiday, but I didn,t answer him, then as I stopped at some traffic lights he asked if I would open the doors so he could get off, which is a thing I wouldnt do anyway, but I said no way, I,m one of them B....y grockles you dont like you are going right to the bus stop up the road.
 
Thanks for that Dave I enjoyed the photos I didn't realise they worked at night:)
 
Went down the front to-day the pier is coming on a treat they have got the roof on now,and all the slabbing from Anchor Head all the way up to the Victorian cafe and the new sea defence wall Weston is realy on the up it shoul look great next summer.........any body coming down in the summer...we could have a tot

Mossy:cool:
 
Found among my old photos. Different view of the Pier, taken from a helicopter, Western Super Mare Heliday early 1990's.

Weston-S-Mare.jpg


Colin
 
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Had a great time at Pontins BREAN this New Year. Cold but sunny all the days we spent down in BIRMINGHAM ON SEA
 
Nice photos Baron,John.... the Michaels who own the Pier amd the fish and chip you mentioned,have also bought a lot of small hotels to mention a few The Welbeck,The Midland,The Manaco,


Mossy
 
When they have got the Grand Pier back on it's feet perhaps they could take on the Old Pier and get that up and running again. Not much is heard of it these days more's the pity as it is still an asset of W-S-M worth saving surely?
 
motorman-mike said:
When they have got the Grand Pier back on it's feet perhaps they could take on the Old Pier and get that up and running again. Not much is heard of it these days more's the pity as it is still an asset of W-S-M worth saving surely?
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I read somewhere ( 28dl. com urbex site perhaps ) that civil engineering plant is down on Birnbeck Pier but it does not look if it is there for any demolition purposes. I believe it is a listed building , for what that is worth. Perhaps Mossy could dress up in his Black Ninja gear and infiltrate the pier. Then again it is probably easier asking one of the workmen in a nearby pub or cafe.
 
Arkrite how do you know i have got a Ninja outfit................have you been looking at my library card:D:D

The old pier is owned by Urban Splash and they are doing some thing on there when i find out you will be the first to know

Mau-reece:P
 
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