Attraction in North Somerset

Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier extends 366 meters into Bristol Channel. Third incarnation following fires in 1930 and 2008, with 2010 rebuild creating modern pavilion. Serves as spectacular walkway with views across Bristol Channel to Wales, and entertainment complex with amusements, arcades, restaurants. Contemporary pavilion contains family entertainment including rides, soft play, bowling, cinema. Walking the pier provides perspectives on the bay and dramatic tidal range. Victorian pier end retains ornate ironwork from 1904 origins. Centrally located on seafront. Free to walk, charges for attractions.

Clevedon Pier on the Somerset coast of the Bristol Channel is the finest Victorian seaside pier in Britain, an elegant iron structure extending 312 metres into the Bristol Channel on slender octagonal cast iron columns that was completed in 1869 and has been restored following partial collapse in 1970 to serve as an outstanding example of Victorian engineering and seaside culture. The pier received Grade I listed building status, one of the few piers in England to be so designated, reflecting its exceptional architectural and engineering quality. The pier was built in 1869 to allow paddle steamers to dock at Clevedon, the shallow tidal waters of the Bristol Channel and the enormous tidal range making conventional harbours impractical along much of this coast. The paddle steamers that called at Clevedon from Bristol and other Bristol Channel ports brought Victorian tourists in considerable numbers to the seaside town, and the pier served as the arrival and departure point for this traffic until the steamer services declined. The Waverley, the last seagoing paddle steamer in the world, still calls at Clevedon Pier on occasional special sailings. The pier provides excellent views of the Bristol Channel, the Welsh coast across the water and the Severn Estuary to the northeast, one of the most distinctive coastal panoramas in England. The Victorian toll houses, the landing stage and the Gothic pavilion at the pier head retain the character of the original structure and the experience of walking on this elegantly proportioned iron deck above the tidal waters provides a genuinely Victorian seaside experience.