The first Saturday opening of the new Thomas History Archive drew a crowd to Burnham-On-Sea Community Centre at the weekend as visitors explored the town’s rich past.
For the past two years, a small team of volunteers has been carefully organising and cataloguing the extensive background material collected by local historian Robert Thomas, and previously by his father Winston, for a book.
The result is a rich archive that is now housed at Burnham Community Centre in Berrow Road, next to the swimming pool. The archive in room 4 at the centre was first unveiled in May 2025, as we reported here.
The special opening on Saturday (June 6th) coincided with the Friends of the Community Centre’s monthly coffee morning, creating a lively atmosphere as dozens of people browsed the growing collection of photographs, documents, slides and memorabilia gathered for The Book of Burnham-On-Sea.
A spokesman said the response had been very positive, with “people poring over photographs and files” throughout the morning. Particular interest centred on newly donated material from the Burnham Operatic Society, much of which is still being catalogued.
The archive team’s workload grew further when a visitor handed over an additional scrapbook containing items not previously held in the collection.
Visitors arrived with a wide range of enquiries. One gentleman sought information on Victoria Street, where his grandfather had once run a shop. A former Carnival Queen was delighted to find a photograph of herself from a summer carnival decades ago.
Another visitor asked about the American bomber that crash-landed on Berrow beach in 1943, prompting renewed interest in the wartime history of the area.
The archive will continue to open from 10am to 12pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout June.
ALSO SEE:
New Burnham-On-Sea local history archive to open its doors to the public in June
Burnham-On-Sea History, Nostalgia & Features
