Sienna was keen to visit Clevedon Pier as it is where One Direction shot the film clip for the song You and I in 2014. This has become a drawcard for tourists who come to film themselves recreating the film clip, and we were no exception! 

I really enjoyed the walk in the sun through the pretty streets of Clevedon (a town of 25,000) to the beach, through the visitors centre at the beginning of the pier, then out to the little two storey shop at the other end on the water. This elegant old pier really is quite impressive, stretching 312 metres out over the pristine waters of the Bristol Channel towards southern Wales and Cardiff. 

On the right of the 13th photo you can just see the Prince of Wales Bridge across the channel between England and Wales, and a few more photos along you can see Cardiff in the distance. A little further on again there is a view from the porthole window beneath the pier. 

Another interesting feature is the 16,000 plaques along the walls and on the decking. These are for fundraising and to commemorate significant events – there is one for the pier’s closure (more below), one for the One Direction filming, and also one in memory of Liam Payne, the One Direction band member who died in 2024. 

The pier opened with much fanfare in 1869 as a port for the passenger ferry service to South Wales. After 100 years of service it was closed and slated for demolition in 1970, when it partially collapsed during stress testing. Thankfully the local community rallied together to raise enough funds to save it. The pier was then rebuilt and restored in the 1980s, and fully reopened in 1998. 

I’m glad the pier found its happy ending, it would have been a real shame to lose it.