West Country Modernism
@westcountrymodern.bsky.social
A journey around mid century modernist buildings in the West Country. By @magslhalliday.bsky.social
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Tinside Lido, Plymouth (1935)
This deep dive is into a Lido! In 1928, Plymouth's chief engineer set out to create a new, healthier city, and his masterpiece at Tinside is still visible beneath the post-war plans.
buttondown.com
The deep dive into Tinside Lido is now FREE to read!
With huge thanks to the team at Plymouth Leisure for letting me look about when it's closed, and for talking about how they share the same motives as the man who built it back in 1935: to offer healthy fun on the foreshore.
#Plymouth
With huge thanks to the team at Plymouth Leisure for letting me look about when it's closed, and for talking about how they share the same motives as the man who built it back in 1935: to offer healthy fun on the foreshore.
#Plymouth
Reposted by West Country Modernism
Church of the Good Shepherd, Batheaston. Permission has mistakenly been granted to demolish this rare example of brutalist architecture in Bath. I was invited inside with a group of people who are exploring an alternative future for this empty church.
December 6, 2025 at 8:20 AM
Church of the Good Shepherd, Batheaston. Permission has mistakenly been granted to demolish this rare example of brutalist architecture in Bath. I was invited inside with a group of people who are exploring an alternative future for this empty church.
Reposted by West Country Modernism
Netflix have just bought Westward TV. They gain exclusive rights to use Gus Honeybun in a variety of media.
December 5, 2025 at 4:35 PM
Netflix have just bought Westward TV. They gain exclusive rights to use Gus Honeybun in a variety of media.
Reposted by West Country Modernism
It's #sketchpadvent – celebrating amazing modernist concept drawings and models. December 1: Milton Keynes from 1981
December 1, 2025 at 10:39 AM
It's #sketchpadvent – celebrating amazing modernist concept drawings and models. December 1: Milton Keynes from 1981
This month’s news covers Taunton, Exeter, Bath, Bournemouth, a house in Frome. And a building site with the same population as a small town.
December 4, 2025 at 7:37 PM
This month’s news covers Taunton, Exeter, Bath, Bournemouth, a house in Frome. And a building site with the same population as a small town.
I wrote about Weston the other week and mentioned in passing the amount of amazing street art.
So seeing this idiocy is just infuriating. How can ruining beautiful murals possibly be motivated by pride? It's clearly driven by hate.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
So seeing this idiocy is just infuriating. How can ruining beautiful murals possibly be motivated by pride? It's clearly driven by hate.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
December 2, 2025 at 4:10 PM
I wrote about Weston the other week and mentioned in passing the amount of amazing street art.
So seeing this idiocy is just infuriating. How can ruining beautiful murals possibly be motivated by pride? It's clearly driven by hate.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
So seeing this idiocy is just infuriating. How can ruining beautiful murals possibly be motivated by pride? It's clearly driven by hate.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
Reposted by West Country Modernism
Cover of the day: from 1968, here is the Cement and Concrete Association’s brochure on the Western Avenue Extension aka Westway. It was published two years prior to the opening of the Westway, so it’s all artists’ impressions:
December 2, 2025 at 11:07 AM
Cover of the day: from 1968, here is the Cement and Concrete Association’s brochure on the Western Avenue Extension aka Westway. It was published two years prior to the opening of the Westway, so it’s all artists’ impressions:
My December plan is a news round up this week and then a retrospective of the first year of the project closer to Christmas.
And behind the scenes I’ll be constructing a plan for 2026 so if there’s a C20 building in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset or Somerset you’d like to learn more about, let me know.
And behind the scenes I’ll be constructing a plan for 2026 so if there’s a C20 building in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset or Somerset you’d like to learn more about, let me know.
December 2, 2025 at 7:48 AM
My December plan is a news round up this week and then a retrospective of the first year of the project closer to Christmas.
And behind the scenes I’ll be constructing a plan for 2026 so if there’s a C20 building in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset or Somerset you’d like to learn more about, let me know.
And behind the scenes I’ll be constructing a plan for 2026 so if there’s a C20 building in Cornwall, Devon, Dorset or Somerset you’d like to learn more about, let me know.
Reposted by West Country Modernism
"Sue and Rupert's dream home includes both a stonking amount of bonkers, and a bonkers amount of stonking"
December 2, 2025 at 2:25 AM
"Sue and Rupert's dream home includes both a stonking amount of bonkers, and a bonkers amount of stonking"
Reposted by West Country Modernism
EVENT: Join C20 President @SamiraAhmedUK
for our annual Xmas Lecture: From Cathedrals to Cooling Towers–Global stories about the buildings that bond us.
🗓️ Tue 2 Dec 2025 6.30pm – 8pm
📍 The Gallery, Cowcross St+Online
🎟️ Book tickets: @c20society.bsky.social
secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
for our annual Xmas Lecture: From Cathedrals to Cooling Towers–Global stories about the buildings that bond us.
🗓️ Tue 2 Dec 2025 6.30pm – 8pm
📍 The Gallery, Cowcross St+Online
🎟️ Book tickets: @c20society.bsky.social
secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
November 23, 2025 at 10:35 AM
EVENT: Join C20 President @SamiraAhmedUK
for our annual Xmas Lecture: From Cathedrals to Cooling Towers–Global stories about the buildings that bond us.
🗓️ Tue 2 Dec 2025 6.30pm – 8pm
📍 The Gallery, Cowcross St+Online
🎟️ Book tickets: @c20society.bsky.social
secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
for our annual Xmas Lecture: From Cathedrals to Cooling Towers–Global stories about the buildings that bond us.
🗓️ Tue 2 Dec 2025 6.30pm – 8pm
📍 The Gallery, Cowcross St+Online
🎟️ Book tickets: @c20society.bsky.social
secure.c20society.org.uk/Default.aspx...
Reposted by West Country Modernism
NEW deep dive for paying subscribers!
My first look at a repurposed building also covers Bernard Adams' 'Method' consortium and how the same conversations about town planning are happening again.
Plus the building looks like a TARDIS inside.
All thanks to a reader's rec to look at it.
My first look at a repurposed building also covers Bernard Adams' 'Method' consortium and how the same conversations about town planning are happening again.
Plus the building looks like a TARDIS inside.
All thanks to a reader's rec to look at it.
Nailsea Library (former), Nailsea (1971)
Exploring the history of Nailsea's old library, a brutalist gem that now serves up lattes.
buttondown.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:09 AM
NEW deep dive for paying subscribers!
My first look at a repurposed building also covers Bernard Adams' 'Method' consortium and how the same conversations about town planning are happening again.
Plus the building looks like a TARDIS inside.
All thanks to a reader's rec to look at it.
My first look at a repurposed building also covers Bernard Adams' 'Method' consortium and how the same conversations about town planning are happening again.
Plus the building looks like a TARDIS inside.
All thanks to a reader's rec to look at it.
NEW deep dive for paying subscribers!
My first look at a repurposed building also covers Bernard Adams' 'Method' consortium and how the same conversations about town planning are happening again.
Plus the building looks like a TARDIS inside.
All thanks to a reader's rec to look at it.
My first look at a repurposed building also covers Bernard Adams' 'Method' consortium and how the same conversations about town planning are happening again.
Plus the building looks like a TARDIS inside.
All thanks to a reader's rec to look at it.
Nailsea Library (former), Nailsea (1971)
Exploring the history of Nailsea's old library, a brutalist gem that now serves up lattes.
buttondown.com
November 28, 2025 at 10:09 AM
NEW deep dive for paying subscribers!
My first look at a repurposed building also covers Bernard Adams' 'Method' consortium and how the same conversations about town planning are happening again.
Plus the building looks like a TARDIS inside.
All thanks to a reader's rec to look at it.
My first look at a repurposed building also covers Bernard Adams' 'Method' consortium and how the same conversations about town planning are happening again.
Plus the building looks like a TARDIS inside.
All thanks to a reader's rec to look at it.
I've just got a few modern newspaper articles to double check and I'll be loading the deep dive into the email system. Might be late tonight but it will be today.
Subscribe here: buttondown.com/WestCountryM...
Subscribe here: buttondown.com/WestCountryM...
Taking a break from reading the press cuttings about Nailsea library.
November 27, 2025 at 1:47 PM
I've just got a few modern newspaper articles to double check and I'll be loading the deep dive into the email system. Might be late tonight but it will be today.
Subscribe here: buttondown.com/WestCountryM...
Subscribe here: buttondown.com/WestCountryM...
Reposted by West Country Modernism
Alt text that that has humor and personality and sounds like it was written by the person who took the photo is great, but you gotta do that while remembering that the fundamental purpose is communicating what the image is.
Alt Text isn't the space for seo, secret notes, or inside jokes. It's for people to access media and any context or information that that media has.
If we gon make things right, we gotta find ways to make things right that don't leave us behind.
If we gon make things right, we gotta find ways to make things right that don't leave us behind.
Some are suggesting you deliberately write inaccurate or confusing alt text, because they say this confuses AI scrapers that are analyzing images.
The purpose of alt text is to help people who cannot see the image. Deliberately misrepresenting the image is a gross misuse of alt text. Don't do it.
The purpose of alt text is to help people who cannot see the image. Deliberately misrepresenting the image is a gross misuse of alt text. Don't do it.
November 27, 2025 at 7:28 AM
Alt text that that has humor and personality and sounds like it was written by the person who took the photo is great, but you gotta do that while remembering that the fundamental purpose is communicating what the image is.
The deep dive into Tinside Lido is now FREE to read!
With huge thanks to the team at Plymouth Leisure for letting me look about when it's closed, and for talking about how they share the same motives as the man who built it back in 1935: to offer healthy fun on the foreshore.
#Plymouth
With huge thanks to the team at Plymouth Leisure for letting me look about when it's closed, and for talking about how they share the same motives as the man who built it back in 1935: to offer healthy fun on the foreshore.
#Plymouth
Tinside Lido, Plymouth (1935)
This deep dive is into a Lido! In 1928, Plymouth's chief engineer set out to create a new, healthier city, and his masterpiece at Tinside is still visible beneath the post-war plans.
buttondown.com
November 27, 2025 at 10:15 AM
The deep dive into Tinside Lido is now FREE to read!
With huge thanks to the team at Plymouth Leisure for letting me look about when it's closed, and for talking about how they share the same motives as the man who built it back in 1935: to offer healthy fun on the foreshore.
#Plymouth
With huge thanks to the team at Plymouth Leisure for letting me look about when it's closed, and for talking about how they share the same motives as the man who built it back in 1935: to offer healthy fun on the foreshore.
#Plymouth
Taking a break from reading the press cuttings about Nailsea library.
November 25, 2025 at 1:29 PM
Taking a break from reading the press cuttings about Nailsea library.
Sometimes the feature image for the next deep dive is *immediately* obvious.
November 20, 2025 at 11:11 AM
Sometimes the feature image for the next deep dive is *immediately* obvious.
Sunny winter’s day so I’m on a train to Nailsea, then back via the archives in Taunton.
Walking boots on in case of frosty paths.
Walking boots on in case of frosty paths.
November 20, 2025 at 8:52 AM
Sunny winter’s day so I’m on a train to Nailsea, then back via the archives in Taunton.
Walking boots on in case of frosty paths.
Walking boots on in case of frosty paths.
My teen offered the terrifying remark “you lived through the Cold War, didn’t you?”.
I mean, yes, but only the second half of it.
I mean, yes, but only the second half of it.
One of the strangest aspects of aging that they don't warn you about is watching as history gets rewritten right in front of your face and people 20 years younger than you confidently tell you about something you lived through and get it completely wrong.
November 19, 2025 at 7:08 PM
My teen offered the terrifying remark “you lived through the Cold War, didn’t you?”.
I mean, yes, but only the second half of it.
I mean, yes, but only the second half of it.
Thank you to my new subscribers so far this week.
I'm out in the cold tomorrow, to visit Nailsea and the archives in Taunton. The subs help cover my costs and give me the warm glow of knowing someone likes what I'm doing.
I'm out in the cold tomorrow, to visit Nailsea and the archives in Taunton. The subs help cover my costs and give me the warm glow of knowing someone likes what I'm doing.
November 19, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Thank you to my new subscribers so far this week.
I'm out in the cold tomorrow, to visit Nailsea and the archives in Taunton. The subs help cover my costs and give me the warm glow of knowing someone likes what I'm doing.
I'm out in the cold tomorrow, to visit Nailsea and the archives in Taunton. The subs help cover my costs and give me the warm glow of knowing someone likes what I'm doing.
Just outside our area, because we don't do Bristol, but a bit of Cold War Modernism is up for sale.
Potentially more of a WeirdHaus than a WowHaus, but this 1960s Cold War ROC underground Bunker in Hallen, Bristol is fascinating. Up for auction with a guide of £20k. bit.ly/49mADCT
November 19, 2025 at 12:20 PM
Just outside our area, because we don't do Bristol, but a bit of Cold War Modernism is up for sale.
Reposted by West Country Modernism
Spoiler: The “one catch” is the annual Wicker Man, to which newcomers are cordially invited.
It stood out for its 'flourishing independent retail and food scene'
Delightful Devon town is one of the UK's prettiest - there's only 'one catch'
It stood out for its 'flourishing independent retail and food scene'
www.plymouthherald.co.uk
November 15, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Spoiler: The “one catch” is the annual Wicker Man, to which newcomers are cordially invited.
There are 33 new entries for the South West region in Historic England's at risk list this year. From a brief skim, none are C20 sites.
historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/ne...
historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/ne...
Historic England Reveals its Heritage at Risk Register 2025 | Historic England
Historic England's Heritage at Risk Register 2025 gives a snapshot of the health of England’s valued historic buildings and places.
historicengland.org.uk
November 14, 2025 at 11:10 AM
There are 33 new entries for the South West region in Historic England's at risk list this year. From a brief skim, none are C20 sites.
historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/ne...
historicengland.org.uk/whats-new/ne...
Reposted by West Country Modernism
My notes from Weston-Super-Mare are now available.
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Field Notes: Weston-Super-Mare (13 November 2025)
Some of Weston's C20 buildings. One with literal off-white elephants, and two that are more metaphorical ones.
buttondown.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:12 PM
My notes from Weston-Super-Mare are now available.
1/2
1/2
My notes from Weston-Super-Mare are now available.
1/2
1/2
Field Notes: Weston-Super-Mare (13 November 2025)
Some of Weston's C20 buildings. One with literal off-white elephants, and two that are more metaphorical ones.
buttondown.com
November 13, 2025 at 7:12 PM
My notes from Weston-Super-Mare are now available.
1/2
1/2