Butlins unveils first BlueSkies timeshare apartments

A LAUNCH event is being held at Butlins, in Minehead for the company’s £4.5 million timeshare development BlueSkies on Wednesday, July 4.
It marks the first move into the timeshare market for the holiday firm, which chose Minehead as the venue for the venture, which should attract a new type of holidaymaker to the town from all over the world.
Work on the first four-storey block of 24 luxury flats only started last September and now the company is ready to begin marketing them.
Journalists were being transported to Minehead from London for a Champagne lunch and sneak preview of the development as part of the launch event.
The project has been named BlueSkies, and, based on the cost of hiring an apartment for a family for a week in May, purchasers will be able to enter the scheme from £6,000 upwards for 30 years of ownership.
The new apartments could be open all year round, even at times when the rest of the Butlins resort was closed, which should help to extend the area’s tourism season.
Phase two of the BlueSkies development is planned for later this year and will include the a health and fitness suite.
More could follow if the scheme proves to be as popular as anticipated by Butlins.
BlueSkies has been called the most stylish accommodation ever offered at Butlins - with spacious, modern holiday apartment set slightly apart from the main resort and full of contemporary design features.
As well as access to Butlins’ renowned range of live entertainment and fun-packed facilities, BlueSkies guests will have full VIP treatment with their own concierge service and dedicated support team.
In boutique hotel fashion, there will also be free wireless internet access, free dvd rental, and even an opportunity for staff to fill owners’ fridges with all their favourite treats, thanks to three different pre-arrival ‘fridge menu’ options.
There will also be access to all of Butlins’ complimentary facilities and entertainments, including Splash Waterworld, live stage shows, extreme sports stars, performances from top pop acts, appearances from television characters such as Bob the Builder, Angellina Ballerina, and Pingu, a variety of kids clubs and sports activities, non-stop street-theatre, and the famous Butlins Redcoats to help entertain the children.
The Minehead BlueSkies is a mix of four one-bedroom apartments sleeping up to four people, and 20 two-bedroom apartments sleeping up to six people.
All four storeys of the block have uninterrupted views across the bay to North Hill and Minehead Harbour. Car parking is on the ground floor, beneath the apartments.
A website, http://www.blueskiesbybutlins.com/, has been designed for people keen to learn more about the new development.
Mike Crowther, who is leading the BlueSkies development for Butlins, said: “BlueSkies is holiday heaven for the growing number of people who enjoy the fun and convenience of a UK family break.
“Second homes and holiday apartments are an unattainable dream for many people as they can be expensive to buy, maintain, and manage.
“Butlins is one of the UK’s most popular and best-trusted holiday brands. By introducing BlueSkies in our 70th anniversary year, we are aiming to create a development that is luxurious, flexible, great value, and guarantees a first-rate family holiday.”

• Our photograph shows the BlueSkies first phase nearing completion. Photo submitted.

Britain's Strongest Man contest returns to West Somerset

AS revealed in this month’s The Crier, Britain’s Strongest Man 2007 competition is returning at weekend to Minehead.
The event, which is produced by media company IMG and supported by West Somerset Council, is being staged in Butlins and on the town’s harbour and seafront.
The return to Minehead of the popular event for a third time in seven years was brokered by former council economic development portfolio holder Councillor Nick Messarra.
The competition starts on Sunday, June 24, and qualifying events run until Tuesday, June 26, with the final events taking place on Thursday and Friday, June 28 and 29.
The qualifying schedule is:

• Sunday, on the seafront - the anchor, chain and duck walk starts at 9 am, with the log press at 2 pm, followed by the safe lift.
• Monday, at Butlins - the squat lift at 9 am is followed by the dead lift, with the shield carry at 2 pm.
• Tuesday, on the seafront and beach - the fingal fingers event is at 9 am on the seafront, with Atlas stones at 2 pm on the beach.

The final events schedule is:

• Thursday, on the seafront and at the harbour - the farmers walk starts on the seafront at 9 am, followed by two events at the harbour, which are the car walk at 12 noon and the dead lift at 2 pm.
• Friday, on the seafront and beach - the morning’s events are on the seafront with the tyre flip at 9 am and the overhead log lift at 11 am. The final event will be the Atlas stones on the beach at 2 pm.

Councillor Messarra said: “It is great to see this high-profile and fun event coming back to Minehead again and it shows all the hard work that I put in with the support of the council officers has been worthwhile.
“I believe the competition is being filmed for a television audience across Europe which will be in the millions, so all those viewers are going to be able to see what a wonderful place West Somerset is and hopefully they will be encouraged to come and spend their holidays here.”
Council market towns regeneration officer Pete Vallance, said: “We are keen to support national competitions of this calibre in West Somerset, so we are delighted that Britain’s Strongest Man has returned to Minehead.
“The council and Butlins have worked in partnership to bring this event back to West Somerset because of the boost it provides to tourism and our local economy.
“We wish all the contenders the best of luck in this great challenge.”
Darren Sadler, one of the contenders for this year’s title who also competed in the championship when it was last held in Minehead in 2004, said: “I am really pleased to be returning to Minehead to compete in this year’s competition. It is a great venue.
“I have been training hard and I am looking forward to the competition. I am definitely up for the challenge.”
More information on the event c an be found by going to Britain’s Strongest Man website at http://www.theworldsstrongestman.com/.

• Our photographs show (top) some of the competitors in the 2004 event, and (below) Darren Sandler, who is competing again this year. Photos submitted.

Crack in tower threatens church closure

AN appeal is being made to readers of The Crier to help save one of West Somerset’s least-appreciated tourist attractions from closure.
The 15th century tower of St Michael’s Church, Minehead, is suffering from a large crack which has appeared in the masonry of its parapet.
Now, the vicar, the Rev Simon Lloyd, needs to raise tens of thousands of pounds to restore the 87 feet high tower or face the possibility of a church closure.
The work has been estimated at £40,000, but scaffolding costs on top could add a further £60,000 to the project.
Mr Lloyd told The Crier: “As a parish, we have three churches, and, much as we love St Michael’s, it is a lot for not a very large, and not a very rich, congregation to maintain without help from anybody else.
“We are not a wealthy congregation and we do not have pots of money and great resources.
“We are grateful to The Crier for raising the issue as a town issue and saying if the town wants St Michael’s to continue, then it would be in the town’s interests to do something about it.
“It would be good to have the businesses of the town behind us, really. St Michael’s is a landmark and the Church Steps is probably the most photographed bit of Minehead and probably one of the most in Somerset, but without the church it is pointless.
“In terms of Minehead’s tourist status, I think the church is actually a strong asset to the town, not withstanding the spiritual ties of the people who have been married, baptised, and buried there.”
The crack was first spotted five years ago and is visible from the ground at the rear of the church.
Because it was not assessed as an immediate threat, the church at the time decided to prioritise the building of an extension for St Andrew’s Church, in Wellington Square.
Now, however, the damage has worsened considerably and, while still not posing an immediate danger of collapse, Mr Lloyd has recognised the tower has to be restored as quickly as possible.
He said: “We were told it was not going to fall down immediately and we could afford to delay things, but we cannot delay indefinitely.
“It is not a major structural fault, but there is a health and safety factor. We have not been told we cannot ring the bells at the moment, but if it is not sorted out it will go that way and we do not know how long it will take.”
Anybody who would like to support the appeal can contact Mr Lloyd by telephoning 01643 703530 or by emailing him at fathersi@dsl.pipex.com.

• Our photograph (top) shows a floodlit St Michael’s Church tower. Photo by Mark the Photographer, ref M070003. Order image reprints online at www.tcpbymtp.co.uk.
• Our photograph (middle) shows a view of St Michael’s Church, Minehead. Photo by Mark the Photographer, ref M070002. Order image reprints online at www.tcpbymtp.co.uk.

Steam railway celebrating tourism milestones

THE West Somerset Railway, one of the district's most important tourism businesses, is celebrating passing three important milestones during the past year.
For the first time in its 30-year history, the railway’s turnover exceeded £2 million in 2006, while for the second successive year the number of passengers topped 200,000, and, for a third time, it won a prestigious national railway award, this time as Independent Railway of the Year 2006.
With the figures for the year now in, the growth in passenger revenue was matched by increased receipts from catering and shop sales.
Railway general manager Paul Conibeare said: “For the railway, 2006 was a great year.
“We are being successful in developing the attractiveness of our line with more than train rides, and people have flocked to our special events and activities, such as steam engineman courses and other areas of the business.
“We have been delighted to be able to support the local community by providing services for Dunster by Candlelight, the RNLI raft race, beer festival, and many other events, including the railway’s own steam rally in August.
“However, the demands on our finances are also growing continuously.
“High costs are inherent in running a business whose core operation revolves around the regular use of vintage machinery, and at the same time the demands of the modern world, such as rising fuel bills, insurance costs, and the like cannot be ignored.
“We also have a series of expensive commitments to meet in order to see further successful development of the railway’s business, the most readily visible being the overhaul of steam locomotive 7828 Odney Manor and our contribution to the installation of the new turntable at Minehead.
“As always, the hard work of our staff and volunteers is the key ingredient in developing our income, but the hard fact of the outgoings cannot be avoided either.”
Photo submitted.

Railway beats the 200,000 passengers mark again

DESPITE an especially challenging 2006 season for tourism businesses, the West Somerset Railway has again broken its 200,000th passenger milestone.
The achievement was reached on December 30 when Wayne Cochrane, a Serviceman on holiday from Milton Keynes, arrived at the window of the booking office at Minehead Railway Station.
He received a festive season surprise as he was greeted by railway general manager Paul Conibeare.
Wayne, who is based in Windsor, was visiting the railway to give his nine-month-old daughter her first train ride.
He received free tickets for his train journey as a small token of the occasion.
Mr Conibeare said: “We carried 200,000 passengers for the first time in our 30-year history in 2005 and we are very pleased to have passed the same landmark again in 2006, especially as the trading conditions for tourism in Somerset were difficult in the first part of the year.
“With this in mind and the ‘bar’ being set at 200,000 passengers a year now, we will be doing a lot of work over the next few weeks when our trains are not running to make sure that we press ahead in 2007.
“Apart from the engineering work on locomotives, coaches, track, and signalling, we will be mailing information to coach companies and group organisers, timetables to hotels and guest houses, and also getting information out about our spring gala weekends in March.”

• Our photographs show West Somerset Railway steam trains during the festive season. Photos by Claire Rickson.