{"id":2398,"date":"2021-04-26T14:57:58","date_gmt":"2021-04-26T14:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/?p=2398"},"modified":"2021-04-26T14:57:58","modified_gmt":"2021-04-26T14:57:58","slug":"weymouth-seafront-what-is-was-and-what-could-have-been","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/2021\/04\/26\/weymouth-seafront-what-is-was-and-what-could-have-been\/","title":{"rendered":"Weymouth seafront \u2013 What is, was, and what could have been"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0<\/span>new collection<\/span>\u00a0we have\u00a0<\/span>recently\u00a0<\/span>taken in\u00a0<\/span>(DHC ref: D-3291)\u00a0<\/span>contains some very interesting plans and sketches dating from<\/span> the 1920s to the 1960s…<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One of the earliest set of plans from 1924 show the design of<\/span>\u00a0a larger version of<\/span>\u00a0the familiar shelters<\/span>\u00a0that can be seen along the Weymouth Esplanade<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>(<\/span>a popular place<\/span>\u00a0to eat fish and chips)\u00a0<\/span>to seat 32 or 40 persons<\/span>,\u00a0<\/span>that was to be built near the statue<\/span>\u00a0<\/span>of\u00a0<\/span>Sir Henry Edwards.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Plans\u00a0<\/span>from the 1950s and 60s\u00a0<\/span>show propos<\/span>als for a<\/span>\u00a0tourist information centre on the promenade<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0a futuristic looking\u00a0<\/span>refreshment kiosk,\u00a0<\/span>shelter,<\/span>\u00a0and deck chair store<\/span>, as well as a more contemporary refreshment bar and kiosk<\/span>. There are no indications in the collection, however, as to how many of these\u00a0<\/span>proposed\u00a0<\/span>designs made it past the initial stage and were actually\u00a0<\/span>constructed.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the plans from 1963 show\u00a0<\/span>designs for the old<\/span>\u00a0caf\u00e9 and bathing station on\u00a0<\/span>the pleasure pier<\/span>\u00a0which was demolished in 2019. In contrast to the \u2018safe\u2019 bathing from Weymouth beach, sea bathing and diving used to take place from the pier head, and Weymouth Swimming Club was also established here.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Also included are some 1937 plans for the Weymouth Pier Bandstand. The bandstand was built in 1939 with a short pier at the back which extended into the sea<\/span>. On this bandstand pier\u00a0<\/span>was a large deck which could be used as a seating area or dancefloor with sheltered sides<\/span>,<\/span>\u00a0a stage at the rear with a green room and dressing rooms for the performers<\/span>, and then behind the stage a sun deck<\/span>. The Pier Bandstand had only a short life and was determined to be unsafe and subsequently blown up by a controlled explosion in 1986.\u00a0<\/span>A national competition was launched to find the individual who would ‘press the button’ to demolish\u00a0<\/span>it and<\/span>\u00a0was won by two schoolgirls from Birmingham<\/span>.\u00a0<\/span>Some photos in the collection show the state of the pier and its ultimate demise.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Do you recognise some of these buildings, or have your own memories of the changing Weymouth seafront?<\/span> Let us know in the comments below!<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A\u00a0new collection\u00a0we have\u00a0recently\u00a0taken in\u00a0(DHC ref: D-3291)\u00a0contains some very interesting plans and sketches dating from the 1920s to the 1960s… One of the earliest set of plans from 1924 show the design of\u00a0a larger version of\u00a0the familiar shelters\u00a0that can be seen along the Weymouth Esplanade\u00a0(a popular place\u00a0to eat fish and chips)\u00a0to seat 32 or 40 persons,\u00a0that… Read more Weymouth seafront \u2013 What is, was, and what could have been<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1892,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[10],"tags":[82,321,109,320,16],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1892"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2398"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2402,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2398\/revisions\/2402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2398"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2398"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.dorsetcouncil.gov.uk\/dorset-history-centre-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2398"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}