Clevedon

Clevedon is a seaside town in the North Somerset council area, with a population of 21,398 at the 2021 census. Its landmark is Clevedon Pier, which opened in 1869 and is listed Grade I. Two spans collapsed in 1970, and it was later restored and reopened. Check the pier’s own website for current opening times before you go.

For walking, the Poet’s Walk is a footpath around Wain’s Hill and Church Hill. It is named for the poets who visited, including Coleridge in 1795 and Tennyson in 1834. Coleridge spent his honeymoon in the town.

Clevedon Court, on Court Hill, is owned by the National Trust. Built around 1320, it is one of the few remaining 14th-century manorial halls in England.

Back on the seafront, Marine Lake is a seawater lake of 15,000 square metres, filled by high tides. It opened in 1929 and was restored in 2015 with Heritage Lottery Fund money. Salthouse Fields, next to the lake, has a light railway round its perimeter and is used for summer donkey rides. The pier was restored and reopened in 1989. Walton Castle, a 17th-century fort, stands on Castle Hill, and the Curzon Cinema, which opened in 1912, is among the oldest purpose-built cinemas still operating.