Weston-super-Mare is a small town on the Somerset coast previously most famous for being home to Jeffrey Archer. These days, of course, it is well known for Banksy’s new Dismaland exhibition. I didn’t go there for that. Tickets are like gold dust right now. But it was Weston’s annual Pride today, and with it being a bank holiday a lot of the LGBT Bristol folks were unavailable, so I offered to head over there and help with the stall. I hadn’t been to Weston in a long time, and with the trains on strike it was a good excuse to take Effie for a nice long run.

I did walk past Dismaland on my way to the park where Pride was being held. Parking was pretty much impossible on the sea front, what with it being a bank holiday Saturday and Banksy. The queues of people waiting to get in were horrendous, and that seemed to be for people with tickets, because you couldn’t buy them at the venue. It was sold out online.

Pride, on the other hand, was very quiet. This was only their second year, and having been a bit cramped last time they had moved to a much bigger park in which there is lots of room for expansion. It is a lovely venue. I wish Bristol had somewhere that nice, but we did rattle a bit.

I did some interviews for Shout Out while I was there, including interviewing the Mayor about Banksy. Hopefully Mary will like what I have got. A special mention to Alec, a young trans boy I met there who has started an LGBT group at his school with the help of a supportive teacher.

Having done the interviews, I decided to head home because they really didn’t need me there. But before I left town I stopped in on the Sand Sculpture Festival exhibition. Weston has a funny beach. The tide goes out a very long way. It almost looks like you could walk to Wales over the mud, but there are some very dangerous channels out there, and the chances are that you’ll get stuck in the mud before you get to water. However, near the promenade the beach is lovely. The donkey rides are famous, and the sand is some of the best for castle-building anywhere in the world. The Sand Sculpture Festival makes use of this to put on an annual display of amazing sand art. The photos on their website are probably better, but I took some while I was there and you can see them below.

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