Weston-super-Mare’s hay day has long passed; our Somerset town was a popular seaside destination for Victorian visitors, particularly after the railway line cam in 1841 and especially after the Grand Pier was built. Before cheap air-travel became possible for many families, seaside towns such as Weston were flooded with holiday-makers each summer. However, there was always another side to these small coastal places, a rather seedy and disillusioned side; there were visitors who came not for the holiday but to work in low-pay jobs, or were or ended up here, washed up like so much flotsam and jetsam on the sand.
There was once a wonderful and very popular lido which was a great draw, but it was closed and neglected and fell into a sorry state. It was here the artist Banksy, best known for his political and thought-provoking and very witty graffiti, built his ‘bemusement park’. It was done in secret with only a few of the town’s council knowing anything about it. Since it has opened it has drawn in thousands upon thousands of people from all over the world.
I was talking to a taxi driver who told me there had been fares of people from Brazil, the USA, Canada, Australia, many from Japan, as well as most European countries. Every day since it has opened on 21st August, there have been people queuing from day-break; it is open from 11am-11pm, and tickets which cost £3 are available on-line or as walk-ups. However, it has been really difficult to get tickets, such is the popularity, and the ticket line crashed several times due to the huge demand – the first time it went down was minutes after it opened. People for walk-up tickets have had to wait up to and longer than three hours.
It is described on the leaflet given as you enter as ‘an alternative to the soulless sugar-coated banality of the average family day out’, ‘a vibrant new world that provides an escape from mindless escapism’, ‘a festival of art, amusements and entry-level anarchism’.
We went yesterday… is it worth it? yes, yes it really is; unforgettable on so many levels. I’ll be sharing more thoughts and pictures over the next few days.
Big Jig Rig ‘ – a masterpiece of post-industrial assemblage art – it’s two juggernauts performing ballet by Mike Ross’
Lois Elsden 