',2--'h:,fuNews library staff to the Tou'n Hall u-ould do little to SAVE OURLIBRARY! mitigate the unforrunate impact on commerce in the immediate area. caused b1' the deparnrre of A PUBLIC MEETING at the Blakehay, chaired by employees to Cler edon. but the loss of staff from John Penrose, Weston's MP and Minister for the Boulevard, u'ould have a further depressing Tourism, considered North Somerset Council's effect on trade in that localiq'. not \ et recor.ered plan to close the Library in the Boulevard and from the relocation of the Generai Hospital. transfer the facility to rooms in the Town Hall. The opening of the Boulevard Librarl had been John Crockford-Hawley gave an illustrated associated with the 60th annir ersarl' of the presentation of the history of lending libraries in accession of Queen Victoria: it u'ould be a Weston, which had been characterised by the grotesque irony if it were to be s\\ ept a*'av in tardiness of local authority response to private preparation for the celebration of 60 )'ears on the initiative. The Public Libraries Act of 1850 took throne of Queen Elizabeth II. 43 years to see local implementation. Eventually Frederick Wood of Chew Magna donated his own Councillor Tony Lake, North Somerset e\ecutive extensive stock of books to the town on condition member for finance. human resources and that a building should be made available to house community services. declared that the move to them. This generous offer, combined with public Castlewood represented a long-term sar in-q out of subscriptions, led to the purchase of the Boulevard which the f9.8m nerr's'ork at the Tosrt Hall u-ould site and the construction of the current building, be funded. designed by Hans Price and Sidney Wild, with spacious, well-lit rooms to house library, art gallery The Libraries Manager \\'as in far our of a move to and museum. the Town Hall u'hich u'ould provide a more modern context for the library and bener conditions When the museum exhibits had been transferred in for the staff. A library there u'ould be on one floor; 1974 to newly acquired premises in Burlington it could be used convenientll'b1' people doing their Street, the space they had occupied was used to town centre shopping and b1'the 900 staffmembers accommodate the reference library and the who would still be working upstairs: most local bus extremely useful local studies room. Although routes passed close to the Toul Hall: it would be signs of imaginative presentation were lacking, a easily accessible to visitors on their rvay from the good deal of money had been spent comparatively railway station to the beach. recently on refurbishing the reference library and installing a lift. It seemed a strange moment in the Councillor Lake pointed out that some local Library's history for it to be condemned as unfit for authorities were abandoning public libraries purpose. altogether. A library in the Town Hall would be safer from subsequent budget austerities than one Howard Smith revealed his disappointment at the housed elsewhere. He pledged that every effort news that North Somerset had decided on the move would be made to find an appropriate community to the Town Hall without public consultation. use for the vacated Boulevard building. Other significant buildings in the town, including some designed by Hans Price, had become Concerns raised from the floor included the redundant and had required alternative uses, but absence of consultation (of anyone, including the this one was still in daily popular use. The Town Council); the taking of the decision in distinctive character of the listed building clearly advance of forthcoming elections; a lack of expressed in its decorative features the purpose for transparency in tendering arrangements; which it had been designed and it contributed an the negative associations in the public mind of the important statement to Weston's sense of itself. traditional functions of a town hall. The move of many of the council's offices to It was plain that all who spoke, with the exception Castlewood in Clevedon left the impression that of North Somerset councillors, were in favour of Weston was being downgraded. The transfer of keeping the library in its present building. RECLAIMINGTHE TOWN Tourism John Penrose practically earning a season ticket, and the holiday crowds have kept coming. WESTON IS THE FINE PLACE IT IS because of And there's plenty of room for them. At last a tourism. Tourism turned our community from a unified vision is starting to appear, a common fishing village into a town, gave us a magnificent identity and purpose in Weston's reborn public set of public buildings, and created that special spaces. After three years we're all now reaping the dynamic of public movement in public spaces benefit of the newly redesigned esplanade. Ignore which is the hallmark of the tourist town. People the various gimcrack bits of 'public art'; this is an spend a lot of time - not working, not eating or enonnous public space to be enjoyed by those of us sleeping at home, but outdoors, in public, having 'busy doing nothing' on a fine afternoon or fun, seeing and being seen. In recent years, as the evening. The same goes for the new Pier Square, a town has turned its back on its tourist heritage, the plaza on a continental scale, just in the right place, general public have increasingly been eased out of crammed full of people enjoying themselves, places where a generation ago they would have without necessarily having to spend any money, been welcomed. Birnbeck Pier, the Tropicana, just by sharing a public open space with each other. Knightstone, parts of the Beach Lawns: all these It doesn't have to get any more complicated than iconic sites have seen the Keep Out signs go up. this, does it? The one exception was the Grand Pier, the sole reminder that Weston still took tourism seriously. Until the fire. That was the biggest media event in Weston's postwar history, seen on national television news in Australia before most Westonians had heard about it on local radio. A very few were still alive who remembered the earlier pier fire in 1930. Something good came out of that, too. It's not unknown for buildings in Weston to burn to the ground, but it's highly unusual for the owner to wish to rebuild rather than develop. Just like their predecessors in 1930, Kerry and Michelle Michael had decided within hours that a new pier would rise from the ashes. Every aspect of the rebuilding process seems to have been handled well, with the right design selected from competition entries offered up for public consultation, and work beginning as soon as the dust settled. Those who attended the official re-opening on an auspiciously fine day last November were able to congratulate the Michaels and their team on an impressive success. The enthusiasm of thousands of local residents who piled back on during the f,rrst Find an Edwardian postcard of the same area, with day to reclaim 'their' pier was almost enough to the then newly opened Grand Pier, and compare the have rebuilt the structure on its own. Sipping two. Both bustling, heavily used open spaces, champagne on the first floor balcony of one of doing what an open space is designed to do. You several function rooms, we could see crowds can complain about the layout if you like, complain thronging the new and exciting amusement park, about the presence of people who didn't go to the the elegant tea room, the crowded bar, the best schools, invent safety hazards where none promenade decking ... Since then the pier has exist. Or you can just sit in the sun and be a hosted a number of events, with Minister for Westonian, reclaiming your town. ::::::::::,::.:.):::)).a.:.'::::.:,::l:tlii:,) N) BNIMll,lll,,,M$,,o We ston Never stumpedfor interesting reJlections, Brian Austin ltas turned up some sporting memories. SOME THIRTY YEARS AGO I contributed a sarcastic piece to Weston View, complaining that the road names of new housing developments had nothing to do with the history or the locality of Weston. At the time the Somerset cricket team was enjoying a lot of success and, as one of Somerset's most popular cricketers was an Australian called Bill Alley, I suggested, tongue in cheek, that the cricket terms tdrive'. 'cut' etc. were just the thing, so why not name some after the team. I should have been more careful over what I wished for. Within 18 months a whole sector of neu,\\-orle was turned into a cricket zone. For those readers who have not spotted the allusions, here is a list of the road names involved. From the Somerset teams of the time came: Botham Close for Ian Botham (there is a Botham Drive in Bristol, a happy inspiration!) Denning Court Peter Denning Garner Court Joel Garner Richards Close Viv Richards Roebuck Close Peter Roebuck Rose Gardens (!) Brian Rose Taylor Court Derek Taylor (the wicket keeper: for 'court' read 'caught', perhaps?) Perhaps they drew the line at Close Close (for Brian Close). The seven current player above were then joined by six old-time heroes: Gill Mews for George Gill 1876-1931 Gimblett Road Harold Gimblett I9T4-197 8 Tremlett Mews Maurice Tremlett 1923-1984 (grandfather of Chris who now plays for England) Tyler Green Edwin Tyler T864-1917 Walford Avenue Mike Walford 1915-2002 Wellard Close Arthur Wellard 1 902- 1 980 At this point they ran out of cricketers and were unable to look them up, so they went for some place names: Fenners Cambridge University cricket ground; Grace Road Leicestershire CCC HQ and ground, but also a nod to the great W.