Clevedon

Clevedon is what happens when a seaside town decides the sea itself is a bit much. The tide retreats for what feels like a county, leaving a brown expanse of Severn mud nobody has ever been tempted to actually swim in, so the Victorians built a boating lake and called it a day. Coleridge honeymooned here, which tells you the pace, and the place has been quietly retiring ever since. It is the seaside resort for people who find Weston-super-Mare a touch too much excitement, and it wears that like a medal.