Western Daily Press (Saturday)
Severn Beach – celebrating A century since resort’s birth
Mark Taylor visits a village which has way more to celebrate than just the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this June
THE Queen’s Platinum Jubilee is not the only thing being celebrated in Severn Beach this month.
The coastal village near Bristol is also marking its centenary – that’s 100 years since the first train brought thousands of people to the Severn estuary resort, once described as the “Blackpool of the South West”.
Tomorrow, a beacon will be lit on the seafront at Severn Beach to mark the Queen’s jubilee and also the village’s centenary. It will be followed on Friday by a tea party at the village hall and other events during the month, including a seafront picnic with live music on June 11 and a display of vintage cars on the seafront on June 18.
As my weekday morning train arrives at the single-platform Severn Beach railway station 37 minutes after leaving Temple Meads, it’s hard to imagine this was once a flourishing seaside resort. Apart from two groups of junior school children and their teachers on a day trip, only two other passengers are on the threecarriage train, which stops nine times between Bristol and its final destination.
Rewind to Severn Beach’s heyday between the 1930s and 1960s, and there would have been hundreds leaving the station and heading to their chalets. Back then, there was also a large hotel, outdoor swimming pool, boating lake, fairground, cinema, casino and numerous cafes and shops.
Most surprising of all, perhaps, is the fact there used to be a strip club called The Beachcomber. In fact, it’s the strip club that seems to still be the talk of the village when you meet locals.
Gordon Humphries, 86, has lived in Severn Beach all his life. He worked at the ICI chemical plant at Severn Beach, which was one of the village’s main employers at the time, and his brother was the local butcher.
Gordon can still remember the heyday of Severn Beach, not least The Beachcomber. He can even recall the name of the main attraction back then.
“When we finished working at the plant, we’d go to the strip club, sometimes on a Friday lunchtime if they shut us down early for the weekend,” he said. “The main stripper was a local girl we called ‘Big Julie’, but I’m not sure what happened to her.
“The club was owned by a chap called Jack, who also ran the pub, the amusements and the fish and chip shop. It’s all gone now.”
I meet Gordon at Severn Beach Village Hall, next to the children’s playground. Built in 1975, the hall has a packed programme of classes and events throughout the week, including bingo, yoga, zumba, badminton and the Korean martial art tang soo do.
When I arrive, the well-attended weekly line dancing class has just finished. In a small room to the side of the main hall, a nurse is holding a bi-monthly foot care clinic.
One of the locals attending the clinic is Gordon’s friend, Jim Chamberlain, also 86. Jim has lived in Severn Beach since the 1960s, when he moved his family from Eastville in Bristol.
“We had a child who was very asthmatic, so we came down here for the fresh air,” says Jim, who has seen many changes in the village, which gradually went into decline as a seaside destination when more people started to go on foreign package holidays in the 1960s and 1970s.
He’s proud to tell me that he was one of the last people in the resort’s legendary outdoor swimming pool, which was demolished in the early 1980s.
“I’d been to The Beachcomber club with a mate of mine who came down from Bristol. We’d had a few pints, came out of the club and ran across to the pool. We climbed over the fence, stripped off and went skinny dipping as quietly as we could, just in case somebody called the police. The place closed down completely soon after and was derelict for ages – we lost the pub soon after.”
If The Beachcomber club brings back happy memories for older residents, so too does the Severn Salmon pub near the railway station. Previously a hotel, it closed in the late 1990s and Severn Beach hasn’t had a pub since.
“If people want a pint now, they have to go to Pilning, which is the next village,” says Jim. “There are still a couple of pubs there but you can’t really walk there.”
After 60 years, Jim still loves living in the village. He’s so proud of the place that he even goes around keeping the streets tidy.
“Me and my wife often walk our dog and take our litter-picker and clear up. It’s sad that people just throw cans and packets into hedges or into the bus shelter, but I want the place to be tidy because I live here.
“We’ve still got a good community
A lot of people who come back used to come here years ago when there were funfairs, shops and seven cafes PAT MACGREGOR
here. A lot of the younger people who have moved here work in Bristol, which at least keeps the train service going. The buses aren’t very reliable, though.
“What we do need is a car park because a lot of people from surrounding villages park in the streets here before getting their train. Our local MP, Jack Lopresti, says he’s looking into it as there’s a piece of wasteland near the station which could be used.”
Denise Roberts, who organises the line dancing clubs at the village hall, has lived in Severn Beach since the late 1950s. She also says she still enjoys life in the village and has lots of memories from its heyday.
“I remember going to the funfair, and going to the Blue Lagoon. There was also a shop on Beach Road selling everything from household goods to beach balls for the kids.
“I still like living here – there’s still a strong community feel and nice walks. There are lots of things going on at the village hall, which is still the hub, really.”
The other hub in Severn Beach is Shirley’s Cafe, which has been run by the same family since 1940, at the height of the resort’s popularity, and is still as busy as ever.
Pat MacGregor has worked in the cafe for the past five years and says that apart from the delicious homemade cakes and freshly cooked food (“especially the real homemade chips”), people still flock there because of its long history.
“A lot of people who come back used to come here years ago when there were funfairs, shops and seven cafes. We get a lot of walkers, cyclists and train enthusiasts down here now.”
Apart from a branch of McColl’s, the last food shop on Beach Road is Down’s Bakery. In between serving hot bacon rolls and pasties, shop assistant Bridget Chataway tells me the customer base has changed a lot in recent years but business is still good.
“We’re busy, not just because of the locals and the walkers but because of the workmen and people working in the warehouses and industrial areas between here and Avonmouth – it keeps us all in a job.
“I’ve lived here since 1994 and brought my kids up here so I’ve seen changes like more houses being built and the pub closing. But I wouldn’t live anywhere else.”
A few doors down from the Beach Road bakery shop is Severnside estate agents.
Director Amanda Coulbert-Cemery says properties in Severn Beach are increasingly sought-after, with many people from Bristol moving there.
“When properties come on the market, they are being snapped up straightaway. It’s local people and first-time buyers, but we’ve seen a lot of people moving out from Bristol since the pandemic, often people moving out of flats and wanting gardens.
“Three-bedroom houses usually sell for around £250,000-£300,000, which is cheaper than Bristol, and you get more for your money. We’re selling houses before they even get advertised because we have a list of people interested. They sell straightaway.
“There’s also a strong rental market because of people working in businesses at Western Approach, where you have big companies like Amazon, Royal Mail and the Tesco distribution centre.
“We find a lot people relocating for work and buying here. It’s a good time to buy in Severn Beach.”
Severn Beach’s golden age as a seaside resort may be as distant a memory as its boating lake and strip club, but it’s clearly a village with a different future. As it marks 100 years since the first holidaymakers arrived by train, the locals are sure to celebrate in style over the coming weeks.