EP 11 Opening the doors on Weston’s heritage with Cara MacMahon and Jane Hill

Each September allows us to delve deeper into Weston-super-Mare’s history through the national Heritage Open Days festival. This year, it’s taking place from Friday 8th to Sunday 17th.   

 In today’s episode, we talk to two of our local heritage specialists– Jane Hill, Heritage & Communication Officer at Weston Museum and Cara MacMahon, North Somerset Council’s Heritage Action Zone Project Manager.  Cara, Jane, and Becky, highlight some of our town's rich heritage and what you can find at this year’s Heritage Open Days event.

They share with us:

• How Weston developed as a seaside town through the coming of the railways. 
• The work of local Architect Hans Price whose work can be seen throughout Weston in the many historic buildings dating back to the 1850s.
• The investment in the shop fronts and buildings in the town centre over the past six years, which has been made possible thanks to the Heritage Action Zone projects funded by Historic England. This includes work on buildings including the Fork n Ale Taproom and Kitchen and Walker and Ling, Weston’s family-run department store.
• Dr Fox and his development of Knightstone Island, and the rise of Weston as a place to improve health and wellbeing.
• The website Know Your Place where local people share their photos and stories.  It's a great resource for those wanting to search the history of their house and its location through the ages. 
• Some of the buildings that are open, experiences and events taking place as part of the national Heritage Open Days Festival.  Find out more here.

Here are a few links to help you find out more about Weston’s heritage. Find more on our blog www.superweston.net  

Weston’s Heritage Open Days Festival Programme 2023
Weston Museum - a great place to visit with lots to see and do (great cafe too!)
Know Your Place map - find interesting information about different areas of Weston
Heritage Open Days - National visitor information North Somerset 

To comment on today's conversation head over to Instagram or LinkedIn.

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Huge things are happening in Weston-super-Mare, the creative, historic seaside town on the Somerset coast in the South West of England.

Find out more on our website Super Weston

Huge thanks to our host Becky Walsh and our voiceover artist Matt Hardy