Thetownend.com

...thats a fucking shame isnt it? i know it was mostly full of pikeys and twats, but still, had some good times in there when i was a kid :( was gonna go about 2 weeks ago with the missus but gave it a miss cos it would've been hella busy :(

I've got to be honest Leggett, but I seriously don't give a flying monkeys about this.  The way the news channels were banging on about this today it was like it was the nation's favourite tourist attraction.  WSM's crap, that should have been the headline.

It was (and may still be) the main news item, on the BBC site earlier, massive picture of it etc.  Flippin hell there must be something else going on in the world today.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/somerset/7528165.stm

For those who, like myself, didn't have a clue what Leggett was talking about!

It is a real shame, I have great memories of the pier as a kid in the summer hols.

WSM has the highest amount of registered drug addicts in the South West, even higher than Bristol!

I'm sure they'll rebuild it, worse things happen at errrr....

   JFW wrote :

   

I have a lot of memories of that pier too from when I was younger, its sad. 

As a young boy, i can remember the donkey rides on the beach at Weston, beside the pier.

I've always preferred the beach and miles of sand at Brean Down.

Sad to see this news today,as i believe the new owner had made a major investment.

To be fair since the tropicana shut - The pier was the only thing going on in Weston

I SO wish they would rebuild the Tropicana too

So I'm a pikey, a twat, and jan doesn't give a flying fuck about the disaster thats hit the town I happen to live in....... :(

The problem with Weston (despite its high proportion of knob head residents, Brummie tourists etc.) is that it doesn't really offer much to the tourist. Even less now the Pier has gone. The Tropicana is shut and is frankly a disgusting eyesore. There really isn't much else to do, as its not like the sea is that nice there anyway (when its in.....).

What a lot of people don't appreciate is the beauty of Weston in the hour just before and after sunrise and sunset. It is dead quiet, nobody about at all and I kid you not that IMO its one of the nicest spots in the country to watch the sun go down. Oh, and the beach is so much nicer at the Uphill end of town, more so than the bit around the pier.

All I know is the news today should present an opportunity with all interested parties to develop a coordinated redevelopment plan for Weston seafront. Its go so bloody much potential, it really has.

And thank god nobody was hurt. Imagine the carnage if that fire has broken out at 1pm on Sunday......

Bloody hell, was only there on Wednesday...

I was there this morning (not literally like, I have an alibi).

Why didn't you pop round for a cuppa DV?

I was there and went on it yesterday with little one.

I did not smoke

I actually had no idea you lived there.....!

My parents were both off work so they decided to go to the sea side with my gramp, I thought why the hell not its a day out....

my is very sad

I hope it wasnt something naughty like an insurance job - I got scared as on GMTV this morning before the pictures came out they said the pier had gone and I thought they meant totally collapsed so Im glad the structure is still there

Gutting. used to go here with my Grandparents as a kid. Feels like a part of my childhood has been taken away...

there's something very british about piers.

and not piers morgan

Definite possibility. It's a quick way out if you realise you're gonna struggle to recoup your investment, especially as you'd be able to inflate your claim for loss of earnings because of the anticipated increase in visitors due to the bar, go-kart track etc. The business was probably (strictly speaking) insolvent for the current period, at least until a full summer had been completed so if a big creditor came knocking there may not have been much money in the pot to pay them.

Or it could have been an innocent accident obviously!

They said on the radio looked like it was down to a deep fat fryer.  They spent a bomb refurbing it and it only re-opened in April so pretty sure its not an insurance job. The guy who half owns it according to the BBC is flying back from his holiday and is devastated.  Gutted for them.

Do me a favour Lady, the guy is only gutted because he knows it's a huge inconvenience to him.  It's not like he's going to lose the roof over his head.  He's just going to have to wait a little longer to get a decent return on his investment.  I find a story about a house fire where people lose their home more sad than this I'm afraid.  And like others have said thank God no one was killed.

Pumbaa I make no apology of not giving a monkeys, but I will say I like the tone of your post, don't spend weeks, months, or years banging on about what a disaster this is for Weston, time to look forward and rebuild something bigger and better.  Maybe with this being in the nations faces that kind of development won't just be a pipe line dream.

 Piers the Ploughman might be a better exemplar.

I don't really have any direct affinity with Weston - I just happen through circumstance and job location (Bristol) to live there. But it pisses me off no end to hear people constantly slagging it off. Yes, it has its faults, but then doesn't every town or city in the country.

What has irked me no end since I returned earlier this year is the Tropicana debacle. The place is a fucking eyesore. Its just a complete farce, and hopefully what has happened today will galvanise those responsible for all the piss balling around with the whole Tropicana issue to get together and sort out an affordable and agreeable redevelopment plan for the whole seafront. Its similarity to the whole CG redevelopment under the previous regime is actually quite striking....

what was/is tropicana?


and i agree with janaage fwiw. its only a pier, and theres little there anyway.

I don't know the bloke but if he put a lot of personal effort into rebuilding this (like it says he did) and getting involved himself then I feel for him.  How would you like to spend a lot of time and money working on something and then having it burnt to the ground?

I don't know the full situation so I can't say too much, but I'm amazed at your lack of sensitivity when you don't actually know anything about the bloke or how involved he was/wasn't in the project.

Dave the Tropicana was an amazinging outdoor pool on the seafront - it had a big pineapple with a water slide coming out of it and stuff

and upstairs was a train museum thing

its been derililitc for years and the council are fussing over what to do with it

oh right. can see how that might have been a half decent attraction. were the drinks free?

No - I never saw George or Andrew there either

although there were many other men in delighful 80's style trunks Im sure

Fact is a lot seaside towns are "a bit shit" when you look at them.  I love the small fishing villages, but larger towns always seem to somehow be a bit rubbish.

I do think its a shame. Maybe not in the grand scheme of things when it comes to life, but Weston (and the piers workforce) will be a worse place without it.

That's probably why I have no sensitivity to the whole situation, don't know the bloke, not familiar with the work he has or hasn't done, the insurance will pay for most of it etc, only been to WSM twice.  I just don't have a connection with it at all.  Therefore I find it difficult to be saddened by the bloke's loss.

I will say I do feel a bit sorry for the "workers" as they have lost their living, but only as much as I feel sorry for the contractors who were on board the Death Star (trying to complete it) when the rebels, led by Skywalker blew it up No one shed a tear for them or their families did they? (ref - Clerks, K.Smith)

I have to admit the OTT news coverage on BBC Points West really got on my tits. Buildings burn down every day FFS.

But I think it's due to the fact that a town is potentially fucked as a resulted of this building perishing.

I sat down thinking why the hell is Weston on the North East news? I look around to see my almost teary girlfriend had changed the channel on sky in an act of mourning to see the thing burn.

Tis a bit of a shame for weston super mud.

However i wouldnt have minded getting stuck in to a job like that, all we seem to get at the moment is fucking rubbish fires.

And car crashes - 2 on friday alone!

It is sad it got burnt down. remember going there with my grandad (god bless his soul) when he was still alive etc... always used to take me and my cousins there. Bit sad from that prospective but it will rise from the ashes again for other families to enjoy

If the town was reliant on a Pier, which has been shit for years, then it was already fucked I'd say.  I know many towns have downsides, Swindon could be described as soulless, but WSM and down to Minehead have always made me feel depressed on visits.

I have no fond memories of the place, and piers in general are a bit shit.  Seaside resorts seem to think they should either rot in the current state until the last remaining OAP dies that remembers it as a kid, or go after trash without shame and destroy every inch of character it could ever have, like Blackpool.  About time, especially now travelling abroad is likely to be less affordable, that tourist locations started putting some effort in.  This might be an opprtunity for WSM to get it's arse in gear and realise that it is generally seen with such desdain.  In a similar way to how it's taken Swindon fucking ages to realise having a Town full of pound shops is not going to draw in people from outside.

Some very good points there from the ex happy clapper., which I agree with  So I take it Loud and Proud was not inspired by weekend trips to the seaside then Roberto?

 Do other towns have pound shops I thought it was just us....anyway I saw Chopper Harris coming out of Poundland once, an dhe'd come from outside.

All this stuff about the bloke who owns it, the towns tourism and redevelopment is a bit unimportant. Surely it's a shame it burnt down because of all the people who've got happy memories of times they spent there. Yeah they've still got those memories, but it will be harder to revisit them now there's been some blazing madness, redevelopment or not.

Or something.

Is it just me or does that seem like he's stating the bloody obvious? The pier is 400 metres long, his business is 500 yards from the pier. If his workplace was in danger, surely it'd have to be a pretty monumetal, titanical blaze or a volcano?

Bit of a shitter for the locals, but like others have said, could be just what the doctor ordered for the Tropicana. If the owners of the Tropicana have any sense, they could get the Tropicana redeveloped and take advantage of the lack of a pier, afterall, locals will still go without a pier, should there be other attractions.

That pier only opened in april

Good point about the death star

re-opened DRS.

Think of all the small cottage industries affected by this, for example, the makers of toffee apples.

There isn't much market for this kind of product elsewhere.

i seem to be able to get toffee apples in my local chinese, its not that much of a delicacy!

I see they are reopening the pier area and the actual long skinny bit of the pier from today!! nuts!!  they have put up special see through fences so people can look through at the burnt mangled wreckage!!

Also, Weston has completely sold out of metal detectors!

Is it true they are changing town names to Burnham on Sea!

IT IS FUCKING PIER! END OF.

Yes, we know it was the end of the pier that burnt down.