Until the railways arrived, Weston-super-Mare was a town without a history. Weston grew into a major seaside resort from a little fishing village with just a handful of houses in under one hundred years. After a period of decline, it has sucessfully recreated itself as a holiday destination for the twenty-first century and as one of Somerset’s major towns. Iron-Age settlers, Romans, seventeenth-century smugglers, John Cleese (television comedian and top-selling writer of Monty Python fame), actors and even the wireless pioneer Gugliemo Marconi play a part in the story of Weston’s past. A walk along the town’s seafront demonstrates the amazing diversity of the town, encompassing Victorian enterprise, Edwardian splendour, the commercial endeavour of the new-Elizabethans and the remarkable flood defences of the twenty-first century. This edition of Weston-super-Mare Through Time is fully updated.

After a career with the BBC, Stephen Butt now enjoys writing and research with over twenty books in print combining local history with an interest in photography. Stephen's first degree was in Psychology and his MA degree is in English Local History. He has served as Hon Secretary of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society and has provided the research for more than one hundred heritage panels that can be seen in locations across Leicester.