The Esplanade a wide walkway and street on the seafront at Weymouth, Dorset

Dorset

Dorset , is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The county town is Dorchester which is situated in the south. The Hampshire towns of Bournemouth and Christchurch joined the county with the reorganisation of local government in 1974...

 on the south coast of England.

Overview

The Esplanade is immediately next to the sandy Weymouth Beach

Weymouth Beach

Weymouth Beach is a gently curving arc of sand in Weymouth Bay, beside the town of Weymouth in Dorset, England. Immediately adjacent to the beach is The Esplanade....

. To the south at the end of the Esplanade are Weymouth Pier

Weymouth Pier

Weymouth Pier is a peninsula of land between Weymouth Harbour and Weymouth Beach, in Dorset, England. It was intended to extend Weymouth's Esplanade, and consists of a theatre, pleasure pier, car parking and a cross-channel ferry terminal...

 and the Pavilion Theatre. Also towards the south is a statue of King George III who visited Weymouth and helped to make sea bathing

Sea bathing

Sea bathing is swimming in the sea or in sea water and a sea bath is a protective enclosure for sea bathing. Unlike bathing in a swimming pool, which is generally done for pleasure or exercise purposes, sea bathing was once thought to have curative or therapeutic value. It arose from the medieval...

 fashionable here. The inscription reads:
The Victorian

Victorian era

The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 Jubilee Clock is a brightly painted and very visible feature on the Esplanade. To the north is the suburb of Greenhill

Greenhill, Dorset

Greenhill is a suburb to the northeast of Weymouth in Dorset, England, with a sand and shingle beach.The A353 road, locally known as Greenhill, runs parallel and close to the beach. To the northeast it becomes Preston Road, leading to the village of Preston. Also to the northeast along the coast...

.

There are a number of tourist-oriented shops on the Esplanade together many guest houses, hotels, and places to eat. These include the long-established Rossi's Ices, which started trading in 1937.

Redevelopment

As part of the regeneration of Weymouth and Portland, it was decided in 2007 that the Esplanade will be redeveloped in time for the 2012 Olympic Games.

The scheme could include the restoration and extension the Pier Bandstand

Pier Bandstand (Weymouth)

Pier Bandstand Weymouth is an Art Deco bandstand on the shore of Weymouth Bay in Dorset, England. Overall, tons of concrete, tons of steel, of electrical conduit, of neon tubing and 1,200 light bulbs were used during the course of construction....

 at the northern end of the Esplanade. The exterior's Art Deco

Art Deco

Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...

 features and symmetry would be restored, the ground floor converted into a café, restaurant and toilet facilities, and the upper floor extended out to sea with a curved wooden deck. The area in front of the bandstand would be redesigned into a 1930s-style square, as the northern gateway to the Esplanade.

External links

• Esplanade camera, Weymouth & Portland Borough Council