Severn Beach is a village on the

Severn Estuary The Severn Estuary () is the estuary of the River Severn, flowing into the Bristol Channel between South West England (from North Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire) and South Wales (from Cardiff, Newport to Monmouthshire). Its very h ...

South Gloucestershire South Gloucestershire is a unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Gloucestershire, South West England. Towns in the area include Yate, Chipping Sodbury, Kingswood, Thornbury, Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke. The southern p ...

, England. The eastern portal of the Severn Tunnel is on the outskirts of the village. The

Severn The River Severn (, ), at long, is the longest river in Great Britain. It is also the river with the most voluminous flow of water by far in all of England and Wales, with an average flow rate of at Apperley, Gloucestershire. It rises in t ...

footpathon the sea wallis part of the

Severn Way The Severn Way is a waymarked long-distance footpath in the United Kingdom, which follows the course of the River Severn through Mid Wales and western England. According to the Long Distance Walkers Association the Severn Way is long. The r ...

that leads from

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city, non-metropolitan district and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West England, South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean ...

Slimbridge Slimbridge is a village and civil parish near Dursley in Gloucestershire, England. It is best known as the home of the Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust's Slimbridge Reserve which was started by Sir Peter Scott. Canal and Patch Bridge The Glou ...

and the Second Severn Crossing. Extensive sea defences have been constructed and this provides a popular walkway along its length. Originally, the Severn Way finished at Severn Beach, but it has been extended to

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

. The village is part of the Thornbury and Yate parliamentary constituency and is represented by the Liberal Democrat MP, Claire Young.

History

Before the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a History of rail transport in Great Britain, British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands (region), West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, ...

arrived in 1900, the area was farmland. In 1922, the village became a

seaside resort A seaside resort is a city, resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of an official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requi ...

with a swimming pool called the "Blue Lagoon", a boating lake, dozens of fun-fair stalls, donkey rides (on grass), mostly by local entrepreneur Robert Stride. Many people came from nearby

because Severn Beach had less strict licensing laws. The Beach Comber club appeared in the 1960s Robert Charles Barton Stride 1894–1970, son of Albert and Alice Stride. Albert's father George was the brother of Edmund Stride who was involved in the construction of Avonmouth docks and housing. His sons Jared and Jethro Stride were the original ‘Stride Brothers’ who built one-off luxury houses in Sneyd Park, Bristol. Robert lived next door to his cousins Jared and Jethro in Shirehampton. Robert enlisted in WW1 and was a driver, driving a range of vehicles including ambulances. Like many other Strides in Shirehampton Robert was a builder by trade. After the war ended he resumed trading. With the opening of the rail link from Avonmouth in 1924 Robert Stride moved his operations from his house in Station Road, Shirehampton, to Severn Beach, and built a restaurant and six shops opposite the tennis courts. He bought up surplus material from the remount depot in Shirehampton which had closed at the end of the war. He re-used much of this in his buildings at Severn Beach. The swimming pool was built by Robert and he also built Osborne Road, Beach Road and Beach Avenue, laying out a putting green, boating lake and miniature railway. During the 1930s he installed electricity for all. He was Parish Councillor for 26 years between 1937 and 1964. His family were staunch Methodists and were involved with the Methodist church in Shirehampton. His brother Horatio was a keen supporter of

Toc H Toc H (also TH) is a registered charity and an international Christian movement. The name is an abbreviation for Talbot House, "Toc" signifying the letter T in the Royal Corps of Signals#History, signals spelling alphabet#History, spelling alpha ...

. Robert's daughter (Mrs Turner) taught at Severn Beach Primary School (in Pilning). With its era as a holiday and pleasure resort ending in the 1970s, many of the shops have also closed; however, the convenience store and Down's Bakery still trade. Severn Beach had a dedicated Post Office at 103 Beach Road but this also closed and a small Post Office is now housed a few doors away at the Morrisons Daily convenience store. The village pub (Severn Salmon, formerly Severn Beach Hotel) was demolished to make way for housing. The Blue Lagoon swimming pool was demolished in the 1980s in favour of creating more open space and some housing plus part purchased by Northavon District Council to act as a sea defence when over-topping occurs from the River Severn. It was during this time that all the railway station buildings were demolished to make way for new housing leaving just the platform. The station is now unmanned, with a ticket machine on the platform. The boating lake has been filled in and landscaped and now forms part of the sea defence known as Sea Wall Gardens. Public toilets that were built on Beach Road during its heyday as a pleasure resort are still there but are locked overnight. A new sea front Tea Cottage opened in 2018 on the site of the old Burger Bar and its associated children's fun rides. Shirley's Cafe also remains open on Station Road.

Second Severn Crossing

The Severn Bridges Visitor Centre was opened in 1998 following the completion of the Second Severn Crossing at the end of Shaft Road, off Green Lane. Run by the Severn Bridges Trust and housing an exhibition showing the history of the river crossings using interactive displays, video films, pictures, models and descriptions, it closed in 2008.

Ecology

The coastline at Severn Beach is a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

and has a diverse range of wildlife, varying from seals to

peregrine falcon The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known simply as the peregrine, is a Cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family (biology), family Falconidae renowned for its speed. A large, Corvus (genus), cro ...

s. There have been more than 281 species of bird recorded in the Severn Beach area and it is of international importance for migrating and wintering birds. As of 1990, 31 species of

seabird Seabirds (also known as marine birds) are birds that are adaptation, adapted to life within the marine ecosystem, marine environment. While seabirds vary greatly in lifestyle, behaviour and physiology, they often exhibit striking convergent ...

had been recorded in the Severn Beach/ New Passage area, including 3 Petrel species including the first British record of White Bellied/Black Bellied Petrel, four species of Diver including Pacific Diver, Cory's Shearwater, Sooty shearwater and Balearic shearwaters, all four

Northern Hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

skuas, seven species of

tern Terns are seabirds in the family Laridae, subfamily Sterninae, that have a worldwide distribution and are normally found near the sea, rivers, or wetlands. Terns are treated in eleven genera in a subgroup of the family Laridae, which also ...

and five species of

alcid Auks or alcids are birds of the family Alcidae in the order Charadriiformes. The alcid family includes the murres, guillemots, auklets, puffins, and murrelets. The family contains 25 extant or recently extinct species that are divided into ...

. Severn Beach offers excellent

conger ''Conger'' ( ) is a genus of marine congrid eels. It includes some of the largest types of eels, ranging up to or more in length, in the case of the European conger. Large congers have often been observed by divers during the day in parts of t ...

fishing from the shore in the winter.

Transport

The village is at the terminus of the Severn Beach line railway, with a small unstaffed station. The line used to loop northwards to join the main Cardiff to Bristol line at Pilning railway station in the direction of Bristol, but this section was closed in 1964 and the trackbed has been built over. Train services are operated by

; 11 trains per weekday with an average journey time between Severn Beach and Bristol Temple Meads of 41 minutes. The fastest journey time is 36 minutes. The village is close to the A403 road that runs from junction 1 of the M48 motorway at Aust to the docks at Avonmouth. Severn Beach with substantial development at Western Approach and new energy recovery centres on the main Severn Road (A403), is now a very busy area with heavy traffic which will be somewhat relieved of congestion when the new M49 junction at Farm Lane (located to the south of the Western Approach Distribution Park and west of the village of Easter Compton) is opened. This was expected to open in late 2019/early 2020 but legal disputes have delayed this opening. The village is currently once again served by buses by Stagecoach West going via Pilning,

Easter Compton Easter Compton is a village in the civil parish of Almondsbury, South Gloucestershire, England. It is situated at the bottom of a hill (known as ''Blackhorse Hill'') near Junction 17 of the M5 Motorway on the B4055 road. The village is only 1.5 ...

Cribbs Causeway Cribbs Causeway is both a road in South Gloucestershire, England, running north of the city of Bristol, and the adjacent area which is notable for its Out-of-town shopping centres in the United Kingdom, out-of-town shopping and leisure facilitie ...

Little Stoke Little Stoke is a village in the parish of Stoke Gifford, situated in South Gloucestershire, England. It is surrounded by Patchway, Stoke Gifford and Bradley Stoke. Home to Patchway railway station, a minor stop on the railway network, the Rail ...

, Bristol Parkway station to the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

Campus.

Education

Primary education is provided by Severn Beach Primary School at Ableton Lane, Severn Beach. There are no senior schools in Severn Beach.

References

{{Severn from Gloucester to Bristol Seaside resorts in England Villages in South Gloucestershire District Populated places on the River Severn