The life we grew up in no longer exists

The dragon pub was a Wetherspoons and when a Wetherspoons closes down, you know your town is in trouble

I'm an RAF veteran, served over 20 years, and was sadly discharged due to an injury which I collected whilst serving overseas.... The man who said he done 5 years in thr Army. I really do feel sorry for him and his predicament. But, it counts for absolutely nothing. Nobody gives a toss. Get yourself back on the straight and narrow. Good luck..... Don't let them grind you down.......

I haven't been back to the UK for about 20 years and that was only a brief visit. I find it shocking how bad things have become and I guess if you live there all the time you don't notice the decay creeping up on you so much. I spent many weeks during my childhood in Weston going back from the late 70s to mid 80s and although it was already passed its heyday, it was a pleasant town with nice, friendly locals and I have some fond memories from that time. Truly shameful that so many parts of the UK have been allowed to deteriorate to such an extent.

Weston-Super-Mud :) This was my holiday destination as a kid. Good times.

I swear we becoming a third world country in slow motion.

All the victorian seaside throughout the UK are dying. back in history we had factories and manufacturing, The factories would arrange coach trips, and weekend aways to these seaside towns and they were thriving, also factories would have the two week shut down, and people would flock to the seaside, in coaches, trains and some in cars, the decline started in the late 60's, 70's 80's when flights were getting cheaper to go to Spain. Today even those avid British seaside holiday makers avoid these towns and stat in the villages surrounding them. Such a shame to see our Victorian heritage falling into decay

HUGE THANKS TO YOU ALL regarding the video, had a blast filming with Ben! A top guy, looking forward to the next adventure! Thanks again to Ben & his viewers!

Crazy. There is a housing shortage and you have all these place rotting. There should be legislation that orders owners of derelict properties to sell, renovate or rebuild those properties within a certain timeframe. The owners should sell them to the government for public housing. What is the government doing? Where is the investment?

Wow I lived here through my teenage years, 70s & 80s & loved it, loads of great memories. This video makes my soul cry, Plus makes me realise my move to Australia was so right! How Sad.

I lived in Weston for a year, having spent 3 months in rehab for drug addiction there. Part of the problem is that people from outside the area go to rehab there, relapse, and because they have no ties to the area the local authorities have no obligation to house them should they become homeless. Hence the large homeless population and drug problem. There was also a wave of local migration related to the decline of farming - basically poor people from rural areas moved into the town and have struggled to find employment etc for a few generations now. In the summer Weston has beautiful sunsets, and it’s small enough to have a good sense of community. But in the winter it is pretty grim.. Hopefully things pick up for the place one day..

I left weston 15 years ago and didn't regret it, I regularly go back to see my daughter and have slowly watched it fall apart, I also I know Joe from back in the day so I agree with him the nightlife used to be amazing

Absolute pleasure mate, see you on the next adventure!

That is so depressing. Used to have lovely summer holidays there back in the 90’s

I live in North Somerset and Weston was a place we would visit multiple times as kids over the summer holidays. It would be heaving , nowhere to park, all the hotels had entertainment in the evenings and there would be people on the sea front selling tickets. In the 90s and 2000s there would be huge parties on the beach. I remember seeing Carl Cox DJ in front of 10000s of people. The Tropicana would host parties suck as Karanga and other club nights. Such a shame but this is the UK all over now. Not really sure when it all started, or I’m just looking back with rose tinted glasses but the late 90s were fantastic. As I enter my mid 40s I’m happy that I’m now in the second half of my life. It’s got to a point of no return now for the UK, you could throw money at these towns and refresh them but still no one will come. I’ll also add that some people have no pride in their surroundings. My parents would not dream of leaving their home in distress or throwing rubbish at the bottom of their streets. Why do many people do this now?

Well done Ben for showing this, its an important documentation of our times, real and raw style.

Wow, remember being there with parents around 1982, it was lovely, so sad

I live on the outskirts of Weston-super-Mare. Plenty of opportunity and development all the way in from the motorway to the train station. Just seams to be a split of 2 towns. The sea front should be the thriving area but years of mismanagement and underdevelopment. The Tropicana is a classic example until Banksy did Dismaland and now its being used a lot more and got a multi million developement plan. The 2 piers owned by the Michaels family is the main bulk keeping the sea front going.

I was a boy there in 1964-67. Lost a new pair of school shoes in the mud and nearly got flogged to death bymy mum. Dad was at RAF Locking and we thought we were so lucky living in a seaside town. It is tragic to see what Weston is like today.

I lived there for 10 months+ in 1972, worked in a hotel on the sea front as temp reception then worked in a bingo hall , left to go hop picking, then went back home to Nottingham, I loved my short stay in Weston S Mare at the time.

I was in Weston, just over a year ago, in the Summer and it was OK, Pretty crowded, a good place for fish and chips opposite the pier and had a good walk round the pier and had a coffee, looking back towards the town, Then a walk round the town, while my wife spent hours in the charity shops. Winter is the worst time of year, pretty much anywhere on the coast in UK. I once spent 2 months of winter in St Ives and even that was depressing, 40 years ago. Maybe we should have our holidays in UK, instead of Benidorm, or Riviera etc, but it could be too late, as there's so many repairs needed.

Was good to meet you, Ben! You've made a very eye-opening video of this once very thriving sea side town.

Interesting architecture in the town. Good video. Thanks for upload 👍

I'm just up the road in Bristol. As a kid we used to go Weston for the brilliant Tropicana. It was unbelievable and magical. Memories of my late Grandad, the best. Only can be topped by the time Tim Westwood was DJing in Weston back 20 years ago. I told him I was a big fan and he put his hand on my shoulder and said "I really appreciate the support man". 😂 Shame about the rumours now of course.😮😂

Good to see the other side of UK Ben! Good job mate!

The lockdowns and cost of living has finished lots of pubs.

Thanks Ben i remember visiting weston as a 7 year old it was a lovely town we were staying just across the bay in Herne bay im now 61 sad to see how its deteriorated, im not a brit but still sad to see this. Great video by the way just found your channel

I'm shocked honestly man....😶Such a beautiful place 🤗but everything is closed and the people living in the street 🤐such a shame mate 😥Thanks for sharing and stay strong bro 😁👍

Mate you walked up and down a couple of alleyways and pointed out a few closed boozers. Weston is an amazing place to live. I moved here 2 years ago from a posh part of London. I've travelled a lot and chose Weston when I could have moved anywhere. No regrets. Love it here. We have a thriving community with the same 1st world problems as everywhere else. ❤WSM

To be fair every town has it's pros and cons. The rebuilt main pier is considered one of, if not the best in the country with the new rides/activities. Weston has nice parks with live music/acts for free when the weather is good! £4m was spent on a new bus terminal/infrastructure, easy access to visit Bristol, with the town having good transport links with both coach and train stations quite central to the town. It has 3 x theatre's, modern bowling alleys, escape rooms, gyms, lazer tag etc. Conventions including lego and a free access museum. Weston Marine Lake had money spent on it during the last 12-months, dredging, beach extended etc. The seafront promenade must be one of the best in the country after the redevelopment over recent years, slabs/ block paves stretching for much of the 2-mile sea front and is very popular with walkers, skaters, cyclists, electric scooters and runners etc. The town high street is ok, new shops do open even if old shops close, but of course improvements can always be made in one place or another. Birnbeck Pier has needed redeveloping for decades and the good news is finally £6m of funding has been granted to improve that area of Weston, along with the Sovereign shopping centre among others things. Weston of course has a football team and rugby club. The Tropicana has had a variety of uses over recent years with the 'See Monster' art exhibition making the national news in 2022. The Plaza Cinema (previously owned by The Odeon) change hands recently with Merlin Cinema's purchasing it and a huge improvements program to the building is already underway. The local retail parks are good and include, The Range, Halfords, Dunelm, B&Q, Costa, TK Maxx, Wickes, M&S food hall, Sports Direct, Clarks, Argos etc. The Weston carnival in November is hugely popular (view footage for this year on KZfaq) and events like Weston Beach race are also hugely popular (again view footage for this year on KZfaq). Any areas boarded up should be improved and put into good use again as Weston deserves better than being left like that. 👍 (The building behind the man you interview at 9.36 is currently under offer for £375,000, so hopefully a new owner with new ideas and plans to improve it.)

Great vlog came to you through joefish. Subscribed. Spot on . Thank

Hello Ben.Thank u for sharing this video.😊

A couple of years ago we went for a brief holiday to WSM with the kids and loved it. Was in the height of summer and the pier was fantastic

Recently discovered your channel and have subscribed so I never miss another. Shame to see Weston which is a place we used to visit as a family when young is struggling so much.

Looks lovely and grey mate perfect video of england

Thanks for sharing this! I'm not from UK, so I was actually a bit shocked to see such decay. Seems like the local authorities have just given up? How about fixing those roads and buildings, perhaps renovate some flats for the homeless people you met...? Just a thought.

Watched "Remains of the day" recently. Weston-super-Mare featuring in some iconic cinematic moments. The tired "nightmare" label is on the back of all the drug rehabs, crappy high st and bedsit land. But the woods, old pier, and much of the hillside area are gems. A place I enjoy visiting, just need to know where to go...... and avoid.

I lived here in the early 1970s and it was a superb place for someone in their late teens & early 20s. Lively in the town and plenty of nature to explore locally, eg Worlebury Woods, Sand Bay, Brean Down as well as the beaches of course and the frequent beautiful sunsets. It was much smaller however, there wasn't the massive sprawl eastwards. I notice you don't generally film the nicer parts of places you visit, but going north up the hill past Grove Park there were some beautiful streets with great views along the coast and to the Mendip hills. But what you have filmed is a shock to me, it was much nicer in every way when I lived there. But as you & Joe said, the decline is true of most coastal places in the UK now. We seem to have lost our way here, and our values... Thanks for your videos :-)

absolutely love these uk series ! do more of these pls, greetings from your best ever place you've been to, Mongolia 😂

He was right, 'disclosure'...... More people need to be made aware how people are being left homeless when there are loads of properties boarded up.....

You two would be a great duo on more travels. Great video. Thank you for showing us how UK looks these days.

have you had "Turkish" barbers, fried chicken eateries and phone shops spring up all over the place yet?

I lived there back in 2012, very nostalgic Ben, thank you for making this vlog.

Isn’t this the place where they raced bikes on the beach? I remember watching vhs tapes of the races back in the 80’s - Dreaming about going to western super mare, never did make it tho 😢

I went there many years ago. I was shocked to see this video. Thank you for this video.

great video Ben, thanks for sharing. and thanks to Joe for showing you around. It's a very sad video, but ppl need to know. I can't believe that town has more rehabs than anywhere in the UK. Thats just mind bending. Again, thanks for the content. Where are you off to next?..somewhere more cheerful and exciting i hope?..

Ben it's time for a brainstorming session. People getting together can make the difference. Get a public transport system going. Get the landlords to rent or lease the spaces. Get the common amenities going. Use the available space for affordable housing. Get small businesses going by giving owners the necessary subsidies, etc. It's all about planning isn't it. What about ferries and boats bringing in people etc. The list is endless. Thank you Ben. Watching your videos from Toronto. Travel safe and sincere wishes to you and everyone and may success find you all. 🇨🇦❤️❤️❤️👍👍🥰🎉🎉🎉

I love your sunglasses, very cool and you look handsome! You did a really great job, thanks a lot for sharing! 👍🤩👏

It’s the rehab capital of Europe. I went there for it and swiftly moved to Bristol on completion.

Excellent work 👏 just subscribed to your channel love all your videos love from Dublin

Hey Ben, your videos always show the real side of places. Keep up the good work!

Looks like Weston-Super-Mare needs a superhero to come save the day! Stay strong, Weston, we believe in you!

Good video Ben, interesting how quickly places go downhill, some lovely buildings been left to rot

great video mate

This is an example that can be found all over the country and not just the old seaside resorts. Years of funding cuts, rich getting huge bonuses while the lesser paid staff suffer salary freezes, lack of support and a general lack of community creates the perfect storm. Doesn't matter if its blue or red in charge i don't see how towns like this can recover without a massive power shift.

Personally, I love Weston,. I'm from the west midlands, me and my family stay in Brean and I cycle to Weston every day, up by that old rotting Pier (Birnbeck Pier) in the summer it's awesome!! 😎👌🏻

Along time ago (70s) the seaside towns where affordable holidays for many people. Ordinarily people could afford a holiday back then. Maybe not abroad but an amazing memory for kids growing up.

@BackpackerBen this saddens me to no end. I appreciate your transparency in the current situation but I LOVE ENGLAND!!! My previous trips admittedly have been to London and coach tours to tourist destinations such as Stonehenge, Bath, Stratford Upon Avon, Oxford, Durham, York, Chester, Newcastle, Liverpool, Exeter, Glastonbury, Cotswold, Lake District and your home, Plymouth. As a Brit who exposes the seedy side of your country where would you like to go to experience the best of your country? A fair question to be honest. By the way I truly enjoy a Plymouth Gin martini. Thank you Benjamin for your wonderful videos. Chuck

Shocking that the UK is coming to this! I remember going on holiday in the 80’s to Weston and it was lovely, such a shame !!

Think he said 'not even a night' not 'not even a nice' 😂 great video mate. Some of our seaside towns are right dumps these days aren't they. Love how that lad said '19 years' like it was a prison sentence 😂

I spent the summer holidays in Weston when I was a child; it was heaving with peope and the hotels, cafes, the beach (or at least the part with no mud), and the peir were packed. Kids riding the donkeys! Heady days!

Dude, England is always just so GRAY.

Backpacker Ben and a pint this Saturday afternoon, lovely! Cheers Ben!

I live in UK since 2010 and I remember going to Weston back then as I lived in Bath, so wasn't too far by bus from Bristol It used be nice back then but I noticed decline, been there few times afterwards but didn't enjoy it as much.

This shocked me beyind words. What a video!

Man waterfront properties in the US are super expensive, shocking how these beautiful seaside towns are derelict 😮

Mid winter isn't the best time to go to a seaside town. Parts of the seafront and town centre aren't great. But there's plenty of good stuff too. The issue with Weston is, as is often the case, some of the people. There are lots of lovely places on the periphery though. The pier was Birnbeck. The pool is Marine Lake. It's always closing and the council has wasted so much money on mismanaging it. The cinema is the old Odeon. Odeon closed it and a company that specialises in rescuing old cinemas recently bought it. It's mid refurb. It has a very rare organ inside - one of only two working examples in the country. A drive round the Bournville estate will never be good! 😂

My kids have loved WSM when we've visited and I loved going there as a kid. What a fantastic beach.

Good to see Wessex Nomad! Top bloke

I've popped to Weston many times over the last 40 years. In the first 20 of those years it took a steady decline. Then there was a bit of a rebuild and rejuvenation over the next 10 years. Sadly it looks like things have taken a downward turn again, not helped by COVID. I heard that banksy had some installations over the last few years which gave the town a big financial boost but I'm guessing the councillors have blown that. And as a resident of a seaside town myself I understand the situation with drink, drugs and homelessness and non locals being drawn to the town. Or in Weymouths case dumped on the town by Bournemouth. Very frustrating.

Is Weston-super-Mare a nice place to live? Weston-super-Mare was recently named among the best seaside towns to buy a property and has also been placed in the list of the UK's 10 most welcoming towns.Sep 13, 2021

Nice stone island coat.interesting video.

Tumble down seaside town/ Never shed your shabby gown/ You've seen better days/ But like an old violin you've got the greatest tunes to play

The pier in question hasn't been used for over 50 years. It hasn't been demolished as it is a listed building

Looks like Clifton Beach in Pakistan ..without the scammers..The UK has literally self imploded itself through immigration and bad political choices Brits just want to get out and move to Spain or Portugal ..love your vids Ben

Love these travels around UK

I look at a lot of your videos and understand that you are aiming towards the worse aspects of an area, I moved to WSM 6 years and love it here, yes you are right about some of the closed shops and old Hotels etc, but I felt to help your narrative to didn't actually show the beach which is wide and sandy and the main pier which is a state of the art all year around facility. For a dying Town we have 4 main Theatres and over 200 eating places. The old pier you featured was privately owned and fell into disrepair, but the Council and the RNLI have purchased it and millions will now be spent bringing it back to life(they have just issued the contract to repair the building landside). The marine lake which your buddy mentioned was closed this month for silting works (and nothing to do with ecoli) it has been open all year for swimming and paddle boarding etc and is a real joy to those who use it and look after it. Your buddy also mentioned all the rehab, that is as out of date as his last visit to the Town 15 years ago. The TJ Hughes store featured in your video was brought by a developer who having got planning consent recently from the Council for a mix development is now trying to sell it on, hopefully soon! Yes the old Odeon Cinema is a mess, but it has new owners and they are keen to repair and improve it, Opposite were some brand new shopfronts which were paid for through a grant and they are now all occupied, but sadly you didn't turn to camera that way. So I do agree with you that there are parts of the Town that have been neglected, but WSM attracts 4m visitors a year, yes there are struggles and improvement required but it ain't dying. Anyway, love your videos.

You even picked a grey gloomy day. . Its nice in sunny weather

The crouched soldier looked like Banksy art. Which someone has spray painted a smiley face on and the words “Trank”. Which I’m sure alludes to the dope being used locally. Fascinating truly.

You and Joe are a brilliant double act, he should definitely be in more of your vids 🙏

Crazy that you uploaded a vid from WSM! Used to live here for 5 years, so cool to see you visiting

Being from Birmingham Weston was the nearest sea side, but most folks I know go to Aberystwyth, west wales. I know a lot of people who retired to Breen just around the corner, but that’s a dump to

I’ve set up a business in Weston lovely town it’s booming be positive 😊

Nice lively video. The Magic Misery Tour of WSM 😅

Ah man. I spent some great years of my youth in Weston. Went to Broadoak school near the seafront and the sixthform in oldmixon. The skateboarding scene was pretty good back in the 90's. had a great time from about 1988 till '96 then went up North for a few years and ended up back down here in Bristol for the last 30 years. Still go to Weston some times in the summer. Still ok on the seafront but looks pretty rough now in a lot of places.

There's actually quite of lot of western is fine. I've been there loads. You've really focused on the crap bits though!!

I stayed Weston Super Mare in 2010 for two weeks and have a lot of good memories. The town was very run down already. Not completely sure if its even worse now or you mostly showed the bad spots. Although you left out one of the worst streets. ;-) But: the people there were really nice. I enjoyed going to restaurants, pubs and clubs. Had some beers with some legends (one is in the video - still in a similar situation it seems). Oh and I was visiting someone in one of the abandoned hotels you showed. I don't know if he legally lived there but it was an absolutely absurd atmosphere. The room looked originally like in a 60s movie. Well mantained, clean but so outdated and without electricity or running water. And btw, back then the Polish immigrants were the ones keeping the town alive. They opened lots of businesses: shops, restaurants, bars, even a club. A lot of them also doing long hour shifts in factories around. And in general very active in society (my friend gave swimming courses for example - sadly died 😢). British people on the other hand were mostly big alcoholics or even drug addicts (some of the polish that failed obviously, too). Still friendly but definitely not helping to run the place.

Used to go Weston as a kid with my dad in the early 90s great times. Live up north now so haven't been back since. Very sad to nice.

good video by the way 👍

All I can say from Australia is Jesus. I will avoid this dump on my trip to trip to the UK. Thanks Ben .

Very sad. We had so many family holidays in Weston-Super-Mare during the 1960s with such lovely childhood memories. We also travelled on the paddle steamers from Cardiff to the Old Pier in Weston for day trips. Such a tragedy to see what has become of the place.

Wow. Eye-opener that, Ben. Hopefully your video might help bring about some change if those high up get to see it. Get the people off the streets into the abandoned hotels

Blimey!I remember going to western super mare in the early 80s & I swear it was not run down like this then,I was roughly about 10 & it was a week with school,I’ve even thought about going back as I has fond memories of western super mare

John Cleese was born in Weston. It sounded nice when he was a kid doing his silly walks on the Promenade.

I came to weston 25 years ago. Was vibrant and lively until after the recession in 2008, been going downhill ever since, is a shame, love weston,shame the way its heading.

I moved to Weston super Mare over 12 years ago.. It was the best thing I have ever done. Like a lot of town’s it has it’s good and bad bits.

Was there as a teen ,, certainly looks very gloomy.not something I remember I remember the grand pier with lights and games and rides ,tide goes out really far .love your channel promoting mine Jesus Christ is not forgotten thanks mate .👍🕊️💕

I live In bRistol and do enjoy visiting Weston during the summer when I stay in my caravan at Brean . What a sorry looking place this looks now though . Great video talking to the locals there .

It really is so sad and tragic to see these once beautiful and popular sea side holiday areas now abandoned and going to ruin..

This seems to be happening in much of the world. The wealth gap is becoming worse and the ability of average citizens, regardless of nationality etc, to live a 'normal' life is being destroyed. Meanwhile, divisiveness is stoked at every opportunity, keeping the masses at each others throats, while they are slowly bled of the ability to thrive. It is sad to watch and I hope people can somehow come together and realize there is power in unity. Thanks for this video.