Some things what happen in Bridgwater and some equally personal thoughts about them by Westover Councillor and Town Council Leader Brian Smedley. All opinions expressed in this column are not necessarily not bonkers. Oh and are definitely not official Labour Party policy, God No, they wouldn’t want people to think that.
30 Apr
Bring Back the Castle!
You can blame Oliver Cromwell for a lot of things. The massacre at Drogheda, the crushing of the Levellers at Burford or the banning of Christmas. But I blame him most for demolishing Bridgwater castle in 1645 . Now I’m not proposing rebuilding it (although they did rebuild Cabots transatlantic ship the Matthew during the 1980s as a job creation scheme). But I am lamenting what a difference it might have made were it still here today for tourism, history chic and general heritage ambience.
Have a walk around the area today and imagine it.
King Square almost precisely marks the footage of the original Norman Keep built in 1202. The central stronghold. Sat atop Bridgwater’s only high ground and dominating the town.
20 foot high
Then the castle walls rose up to 20 feet in 4 lines of a mighty square around that surrounded by a 30-foot tidal moat.
Now that’s easy to spot as you can start with ‘Castle Moat’. The west side ran from that correctly named street past the main castle entrance (between Nat West and Lloyds) (and that’s why the land rises and bends as you enter the old castle via York buildings. Imagine a Gatehouse and portcullis there) then turn along (by Sports Direct) to the Fountain Inn. (With a mighty stone bridge just to the left of the current one and at a slight angle).
Then the magnificent frontage of the castle would stretch from the Fountain to Homecastle House before turning back along Chandos Street which would form its North facing wall. Have a look at some pictures of Conwy or Caernarvon today. That could be pre-Cromwell Bridgwater.
Four Manhole Covers
But don’t fret Medieval masonry buffs! You can still see bits of castle today!. Look in at the Watergate on West Quay, check out the ruins on Queen Street (to the back of boots) or lift one of the 4 manhole covers at the bottom of Castle Street and see actual castle wall.
Or, to be honest, just pop into Blake museum and see their famous sketch of Medieval Bridgwater complete with actual castle itself…..
23 Apr
A Town of Film Producers
They used to say that Bridgwater was a town of film producers. Well, that was mainly because so many people worked at Cellophane. And they produced film. But cinema has played a big part in this town’s life and after watching yet another great film with a packed audience at the new Northgate Multiplex (this time ‘ Back to Black- the Amy Winehouse story) I thought what a good investment that Leisure facility was. Much better than the Tescos Superstore that they originally planned as they knocked down the Splash.
16 Apr
Wonderful, Wonderful West Quay
This week I was in Copenhagen. It’s what I do. Tour Bridgwater people abroad and bring international groups back here. The centrepiece of the salty old queen of the sea (yes, she came too) is the old harbour side frontage of Nyhavn. Multi coloured houses, boats moored alongside and cafes and bars lining the frontage. It’s kind of like what we have here in Bridgwater. West Quay was the quayside where Bridgwater began. The ‘West Ufer’ (spot ‘Westover there’) of Saxon ‘Brugie’ just before they built a bridge and a right big castle.
13 Apr
It’s the Way I Tell ’em
It’s my fault of course. If I write slightly too many words for my Mercury column they just end it at the exact moment the wordcount ends and my hilarious punchline just dissapears. That’s what happens this week. However, as I also reprint my EXACT wording as submitted in this ‘Town Diary’ then people can see exactly what I was getting at. Not that everybody gets my sense of humour. In fact, I’m not sure that I do. But read on below..
This week I went and did a history talk in the depths of the Polden Hills. The topic was Bridgwater’s most radical Radical in ‘radical’ history. I told them about 10 of our best rebels and then they had a secret vote on it. And guess who won? Yes obviously it was Robert Blake but it did get me thinking that as Edward Carson of the Ulster Unionist Party used to say “It’s the way I tell ‘em!” Continue reading “It’s the Way I Tell ’em”
2 Apr
