Brean Down Fort

Brean Down is a promontory off the coast of Somerset, England, standing 318 feet (97 m) high and extending 1+1⁄2 miles (2.5 kilometres) into the Bristol Channel at the eastern end of Bridgwater Bay between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea. Made of Carboniferous Limestone, it is a continuation of the Mendip Hills. Two further continuations are the small islands of Steep Holm and Flat Holm. The cliffs on the northern and southern flanks of Brean Down have large quantities of fossils laid down in the marine deposits about 320–350 million years ago. The site has been occupied by humans since the late Bronze Age and includes the remains of a Romano-Celtic Temple. At the seaward end is Brean Down Fort which was built in 1865 and then re-armed in the Second World War. Brean Down is now owned by the National Trust, and is rich in wildlife, history and archaeology. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest due to both the geology and presence of nationally rare plants including the white rock-rose. It has also been scheduled as an ancient monument.

Weston Bay is an inlet of the Bristol Channel in North Somerset, England. It lies between Brean Down, which is now owned by the National Trust, is rich in wildlife, history and archaeology, and has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest to the south, and Worlebury Hill to the north. Quarrying took place at various places on Worlebury Hill from the late 18th century until the town quarry was abandoned in 1953. Weston Woods, which cover a large part of the hill top, were awarded a Planting Places Award in a scheme run by Sustainability South West to celebrate "brilliant examples of urban greenspaces" on 6 March 2008.Much of the bay forms the seafront for Weston-super-Mare. Two piers stick out into the bay. The grade II* listed Birnbeck Pier was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867. The early 20th century Grand Pier, is supported by 600 iron piles, and is 400 metres (1,300 ft) long. It has been damaged by fire on two occasions, once in 1930 and again in 2008.Owing to the large rise and fall of the tides in the Bristol Channel, the low tide mark is about a mile from the seafront. Although the beach itself is sandy, further seawards the shore is thick mud, which is very dangerous to walk in and is crossed by the mouth of the River Axe. From the bay, views of the islands of Flat Holm and Steep Holm are visible.

Brean is a village and civil parish between Weston-super-Mare and Burnham-on-Sea in Somerset, England. The name is derived from "Bryn" Brythonic and Modern Welsh for a hill and it has a population of 635. Close to the village is Brean Down, a promontory standing 320 feet (98 m) high and extending 1.5 miles (2.4 km) into the Bristol Channel, on which stands Brean Down Fort, marking the end of Weston Bay. The village is on a strip of land between the sea and the River Axe. It is the home of Brean Leisure Park, a tropical bird garden, other tourist attractions and several caravan parks. The sandy beach has been used for land sailing since 1970. Sometimes, Brean can also be linked with the nearby village, Berrow so the villages can also be called Berrow & Brean.

The River Axe is a river in South West England. The river is formed by water entering swallets in the limestone and rises from the ground at Wookey Hole Caves in the Mendip Hills in Somerset, and runs through a V-shaped valley. The geology of the area is limestone and the water reaches Wookey Hole in a series of underground channels that have eroded through the soluble limestone. The river mouth is in Weston Bay on the Bristol Channel. The river was navigable from the middle ages until 1915, during early centuries of which seeing some European trade.

Brean Leisure Park is an amusement park in the coastal resort of Brean, near Burnham-on-Sea, Somerset, England. The park covers an area of 200 acres (80.9 ha).Open from March to November every year, the leisure park has also been a concert venue for artists such as DJ Casper,Peter Andre,Jason Donovan and The Wurzels. Sky filmed an episode of Brainiac: Science Abuse entitled "Funfair Physics" at the park. An episode of BBC TV series Casualty was also filmed there in 2007 and again 2013. And an episode of CBBC TV series The Sparticle Mystery was filmed of the titled of the episode The FunFair. In 1997 there was location filming for Rosie and Jim of the characters riding a Merry-go-Round.

Bulldog Coaster, formerly named Shock Wave or Crazy Loop is a roller coaster at Brean Leisure Park in Brean, Somerset, England. The ride, which was manufactured by Italian company Pinfari, features a loop, sharp turns and near support misses.

Astro Storm is an enclosed, sit down roller coaster at Brean Leisure Park in Brean, England, created by German amusement ride manufacturer Zierer. It used to be located at Pleasure Beach Blackpool in Blackpool, England where it was known as Space Invader 2.

Birnbeck Pier, also known as the 'Old Pier', is a pier situated on the Bristol Channel in Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, England, approximately 18 miles (29 km) south-west of Bristol. It is the only pier in the country which links the mainland to an island, linking to Birnbeck Island, a 1.2-hectare (3-acre) rocky island just to the west of Worlebury Hill. The grade II* listed pier was designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867. Birnbeck Pier is one of only six Grade II* piers surviving in the country. The refreshment and waiting rooms of 1898 were designed by local architect Hans Price and the clocktower and the piermaster's house have been attributed to him. The pier has been closed to the public since 1994 and is now on the Buildings at Risk Register. During the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries the pier was popular both with locals and tourists to the town. As a boarding point for steamers plying their trade in the Bristol Channel, it underwent various extensions and modifications over the years. During the Second World War the pier was commissioned as HMS Birnbeck by the Admiralty as part of the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development (DMWD) for research into new weapons. Notably conducting trials on the Barnes Wallis 'bouncing bomb'. The pier reopened after the war, but the number of visitors and steamer passengers declined. The final excursion visited the pier in 1979. Since its closure, ownership has changed many times and it has been subject to a series of proposals for its redevelopment which have all proved fruitless. The pier remains in a largely derelict state and part of it collapsed during storms in 2015. In 2023, the pier was purchased by North Somerset Council, with plans to restore it using funding from various sources.

St Joseph's Church is a Roman Catholic parish church in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, England. It was built in 1858, and was designed by Charles Francis Hansom and extended by Alexander Scoles in 1893. It is located on Camp Road to the north of the town centre. It was first Catholic church to be built in Weston-super-Mare since the Reformation and it is in the Gothic Revival style.

Spring Cove Cliffs (grid reference ST310625) is a 2.0 hectare geological Site of Special Scientific Interest near the town of Weston-super-Mare, North Somerset, notified in 1952. The site is listed in the Geological Conservation Review, because of the stratigraphic and igneous features which are displayed. The sequence of Dinantian volcanic rocks, about 18 metres (59 ft) thick, lying to the south of the St George's Land landmass, and also because of the submarine character of the lavas and their intimate relationship with adjacent carbonate sediments. The lava, which is pillowed in places, is believed to have been extruded upon a sloping seafloor.

Weston-super-Mare Lifeboat Station is a lifeboat station at Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England. For more than 100 years it was situated on Birnbeck Island but is now in a temporary building at Knightstone Harbour until a new lifeboat station can be built nearby. It is operated by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). The first lifeboat was stationed in the town in 1882, and since 1969 it has only operated inshore lifeboats (ILBs), currently a B-class (Atlantic 85) and a smaller D-class (IB1).

Worlebury Camp (also known as Worlebury Hillfort) is the site of an Iron Age hillfort on Worlebury Hill, north of Weston-super-Mare in Somerset, England. The fort was well defended with numerous walls, embankments and ditches around the site. Several large triangular platforms have been uncovered around the sides of the fort, lower down on the hillside. Nearly one hundred storage pits of various sizes were cut into the bedrock, and many of these contained human remains, coins, and other artefacts. During the 19th and 20th centuries the fort suffered damage and was threatened with complete destruction on multiple occasions. Now, the site is a designated Scheduled monument. It falls within the Weston Woods Local Nature Reserve which was declared to Natural England by the North Somerset Council in 2005.