Business on the beach

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At the start of a series of features studying the UK's seaside towns, the BBC News website's Anna Browning looks back at her family's shared history with the Somerset resort of Weston-super-Mare.

In 1900, aged 15, my great-grandfather William bought a barrow for 10 shillings and started selling the ice cream his mother Rowena made in their back room.

It was the start of a seaside business which at its height ran 10 points along Weston-super-Mare seafront selling all you would expect at the seaside - buckets and spades, souvenirs, rock. You name it.

There was also a restaurant, a cafe, an ice cream and rock factory, a lemonade factory, amusement arcades and even the Hall of Mirrors on one of the town's two piers.

In the years that followed, as the Somerset town boomed so did Browning's. When it was bombed between 1940 and 1942 - so was Browning's, and when package tours were introduced in the 1960s and the resort began to feel the pinch, so did Browning's.

In the early days there were setbacks.

Without a licence to sell his ice cream on the beach, William - known as Bill - would instead take his barrow to the promenade.

Unfortunately, stopping to serve his ices on the prom was illegal, and his entrepreneurial spirit was rewarded with an arrest for obstruction and a night in the cells.

WESTON-SUPER-MARE Population: 73,000 Famous resident: Lord Jeffrey Archer Interesting fact: Second highest tidal range in the world

Winters were spent making ends meet - working as a labourer, shovelling coal off ships from Wales - while World War I carried him away to France and the Western Front.

However, by 1923 Bill Browning had opened three pitches on the beach, paying £425 a season for each.

A high moment was 1930, when Browning's won a competition for the best ice cream in Great Britain and Ireland.

Black market chocolate

An industry magazine, dated July 1939, talks of "bright sparkling stalls with bevies of clean smart girls ready to serve them with Browning's ice cream".

It continues to gush: "Browning's ice cream is as popular an attraction as any that the town has to offer."

World War II heralded leaner times for the business. Not only were customers scarce, products to sell were too.

Browning's ice cream ended when tastes changed

My great-grandfather would often take a trip to Cardiff in search of black market chocolate and other goods, and while one premises was bombed, another was used to billet American GIs prior to the Normandy landings.

Lily Jordan, 92, worked in the business for 44 years, under my great-grandfather, grandfather and father.

She remembers the "queues and queues" of holidaymakers of the 1950s and 1960s - often snaking the mile or so from the train station to the beach.

Lily can remember the train arriving and the five minutes it took for the beach to go from empty to packed. She can remember "factory fortnight" when half the country went on holiday and business began at 7am and carried on until 11pm.

We were running to stand still Geoffrey Browning Send us your seaside stories Your pics of holidays past

Indeed, with a prom packed with miners and other workers used to early-bird starts, she would sometimes open for business even earlier.

Working in the cafe, she said: "We would put dozens of cups on the counter, not bothering with saucers, and just keep going up and down with a great big tea urn and not stop pouring."

To the horror of today's Health and Safety Executive, on the beach stalls it would often get so busy there was no time to change the water they washed the crockery in.

The answer? Throw in some bleach.

Stall news

My grandmother, Iris Browning, 89, remembers the days when we "worked the clock round" and how they dreaded August, or "peak weeks" as they called it.

She also remembers how the setting up of the beach stalls each year was such an event, it was routinely pictured by the local paper.

But by the time she retired nine years' ago the business had shrunk to a single gift shop.

Lily Jordan and Iris Browning clocked up 102 years working in the business

Ice cream production was abandoned in the 1960s, when the homemade variety fell out of favour. Instead people wanted mass-made ice lollies and choc ices.

In 2003, when Browning's closed its doors for the last time the family's fortunes and those of Weston had for the most part diverged.

Today, Weston has largely turned its back on the beach to the west, and instead looks east, to the M5.

The outskirts have seen an unprecedented level of new homes built. A resort whose origins lay in the Victorian tourist boom has become a commuter satellite town for nearby Bristol and Bath.

Family friends, whose parents ran tourism businesses alongside my parents' parents, have all given up.

Hotels are now retirement flats, bed and breakfasts are drug rehabilitation centres (Weston is said to be home to 11% of England's drug rehabilitation beds), while attractions lie neglected.

Closing time - Browning's gift shop in 2003

Indeed, a large part of my childhood was spent in the two swimming pools on the seafront - Knightstone and the Tropicana. Both are now closed, while the annual air show, summer carnival and cricket festival are all no more.

"It just got harder," my father Geoffrey told me. "We were running to stand still."

"We found the lines we were selling had to be changed all the time. Years ago we would sell the same stuff, year after year."

In addition, he said, "everything stopped becoming a treat".

Faded attraction

Also, while in years past a third of turnover was made in August, by the end of the 1990s it was a quarter. The season became longer, while the working day became shorter.

Visitors no longer bought gifts to take home and things like ice cream and clotted cream were no longer a novelty.

In addition, there was competition from out-of-town shopping malls and elsewhere.

And with more holidays abroad, fewer and fewer people stayed more than four days at a time - in fact most left by 5.30pm the same day.

Weston-super-Mare's seaside simply lost its allure.

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Thank you for your comments.

I was stationed at RAF Locking in the late '60s, when I was in my late teens, when Weston was a major holiday destination and before the M5 was built. I have fond memories of the beach and the "Beerkeller". Also, during that time, the village of Cheddar suffered serious flooding and there were photos of cars being washed down the main street I was fortunate enough to return there in the mid '80s and my children who were "tweenagers" spent many a happy hour playing with remote control cars on the vast expanse of beach, or just walking the dog.

I was amazed by the transformation of the beach for the annual motor cycle Enduro race and the crowds that used to descend for it. There was so much to see and do in the surrounding area - Cheddar Gorge, the Mendip Hills etc. During the summer months, whenever it was a spring tide, people would watch in amazement as the tide rushed in and numerous cars would be engulfed by the rapidly rising tide.
Alex Alexander, Norwich, England

During WWII my mother and her parents went to Weston on holiday and she remembered German aircraft strafing the town and machine-gunning the seafront during daytime.

She said her father and herself sheltered in shop doorways and the aircraft seemed so low that she could see the pilots. She sadly passed away two years ago but had fond memories of holidays we all spent in Weston. My wife and myself have spent many day trips in Weston and like visiting Uphill and Sand Point at Sand Bay.
Andy Lloyd, Birmingham, England

My Grandma lived near Bristol and the highlight of my school holidays one year in the late 1980s was going to stay with Gran by myself for the first time.

We travelled on the top deck of the Badgerline bus to Weston and I can remember being taken to a greasy spoon cafe full of old ladies for an omelette. Next stop was the windy beach where I impressed my Gran by making a kite out of a Sainsbury's carrier bag and a piece of string. Hours of fun!
Liz Hamblin, Swansea, Wales

Grew up near Weston-super-Mare, had Sunday school trips, remember "the Pool" forerunner of the Tropicana, with a very high diving board, 18th birthday party at Mr Bs, took my driving test there, friend got married there, having met wife at a local club. More famous for John Cleese, and the local council banning "Life of Brian". Jill Dando also came from Weston.
Philip Maggs, Yeovil, Somerset

My grandparents lived in Weston, so I have been there innumerable times to visit. I will probably continue to visit once a year when in the UK. It is sad to see the Old Pier rust away, and the abandoned swimming pools. Weston has natural beauty though, and is well situated to be a base of operation for the surrounding country side, rich in history. While the beach may not have allure to those who now travel to warmer places there are plenty of other good reasons to visit Weston.
Thomas Walters, Livonia, NY, USA

Having been brought up in Bristol, it was a great part of my childhood going to Weston to visit the Tropicana with its huge pineapple or walking through the mud to the sea, or going on donkey rides. Nearby Minehead was also a great treat, going canoeing by the sea wall. Things really have changed now though - Tropicana is gone and the bowling alley there isn't the only one for miles around! Sad as that is, Weston still has things to offer - one of the treats of the year is taking the dogs for a long walk along the beach at Christmas. For that alone, Weston is still magical.
Kate, Kingston upon Thames, England

Growing up in Burnham on Sea near to Weston-super-Mare as a child, I am also very sad to see the decline of a town that has so much to offer. The same has happened with Burnham. I live in London now and every time I go home, I feel excited, but then feel slightly let down by it all. Both towns are just clinging on to the last bits of Victorian grandeur that they used to exhibit. It's sad.
Louise Jolly ,

When I was little (1970s) we were packed off to my Grandma's in Somerset for weeks of the school holidays, and a trip to Weston with my Grandpa was the highlight of my stay. I loved the pier, remember cutting my foot open on some broken glass at the bottom of the open air pool (my Grandpa ran down the beach carrying me, looking for someone with first aid), and the donkeys, who always looked so sad.
Isabel, Scotland

When I was five my family took a holiday in Somerset, I remember the car breaking down in Weston. My son is now three-and-a-half and I have been thinking about trying to go back when he is five. After this report I'll probably think again.
Ian, Wroclaw, Poland Ex UK

After spending many a happy weekend in Weston, myself and my wife moved here 15 years ago and have seen the sad decline of this once lovely town. Holidaymakers are pushed out due to the yob teenage element restaurants and pubs are closing, the once great Tropicana is an empty shell and the seafront wants a desperate makeover and yet the council have erected a giant growing carrot. However Weston still has a lot to offer - the great beach, the helicopter museum and the nice people, not to mention the fantastic parks. "Support your local resort" should be our battle cry!
Dave Turner, Weston super Mare, UK

25 years ago there was a wonderful model railway in an upstairs room at the open air swimming pool. We took a detour off the M5 3 years running just to view it - but the last time it was gone and we were all disappointed. I have always wondered whatever happened to it?
Steve Gardiner, Chester - United Kingdom

My main memory of Weston-super-Mare is just how long a walk it could often be to get to the sea. On some occasions we must have been dots on the horizon.
James Kilmister, Bristol, England

I went there with my wife and young children most years for a few days break Tropicana was a real treat but no longer there. The beach was huge and we parked our car on the sands. It did not seem long before a car was being dragged out because the tide had caught out those that went just too far past the flags. I had food poisoning one year a poisoned foot the next with a week of work for both. But I must admit we did have fun besides. Sadly I have not been back since my boys grew up however my eldest now 25 went down for a day trip and said how much it had changed from when we took him.
Phill Richards, Coventry Warwickshire

My family and me have been to Weston on three occasions and enjoyed it every time, we have rented a cottage, the same one each time which is approx five miles away. On each occasion we have stayed a week but we have not spent every day in Weston, with today's car use we have ventured to other areas of Somerset ie: Minehead etc, we have only spent 2-3 days actually in Weston, but despite it being a little tatty in places its still a great place for fun with the family. We hope to go back again soon.
Marcus Johnson, Milton Keynes, UK

Weston-Super-Mare was a favourite holiday place for us when my children were small in the 80s. The Tropicana was a wonderland of water slides etc. I went back some years ago and was very disappointed to see everything so run down. The beach is still very safe for young children and I'm sure it could once again be a great place to be on holiday.
Joycelyn Sanders, Stratford-upon-Avon, UK

Born in Newport Wales, lots of happy childhood memories of Weston, both for day trips and annual holidays, 1940s and 50s. Travelled there either by train, or - much more exciting! - by paddle-steamer from Newport, Cardiff or Penarth across the Bristol Channel to Weston. I think the biggest treat that I remember is a 'North Pole' ice cream in Forte's Ice Cream Parlour, and my brother managing to eat through the huge 'Knickerbocker Glory'. We were there for the end of WW2 celebrations - only just 7 so rather baffled by that!
Elizabeth Kemp, Cardiff, Wales