This Victorian school has been here for 700 years, though for most of its life it was the barn in which the “tithe” tax (one-tenth of local farm produce) was stored for church and parochial use. The ruinous medieval barn was converted into a “National School” in 1865 by architect John Norton. National Schools were Church of England facilities established before the state became involved in education following the “Foster” Education Act. John Norton is probably best known for creating Tyntesfield near Wraxall.

Plaque location: on the wall of Worle Village Primary School, Church Road (BS22 9EJ).

Dwight D. Eisenhower is the only American President to have set foot in Weston-super-Mare. As Supreme Allied Commander Europe, he arrived in Weston and stayed one night in 1944 en-route to the D-Day landings. The town was filled with US Servicemen with officers billeted in hotels whilst other ranks slept in tents in Ellenborough Park. Rather than pull rank, “Ike” opted to sleep in a caravan parked near the water tower in Weston Woods. Following the war, Eisenhower became Nato’s first Supreme Commander, and then US President from 1953 to 1961.

Plaque location: on the water tower in Weston Woods.

In 1881, Emmeline Pethick left Weston-super-Mare for London and worked as “a sister of the people” for the West London Mission until 1895. She married Fred Lawrence in 1901 and the couple took the joint name Pethick-Lawrence. She met suffragette leader Emmeline Pankhurst in 1906 and became an enthusiastic member of the Suffrage Society, as did her husband. The couple were imprisoned for conspiracy in 1912 following demonstrations that involved the breaking of windows. A falling out with the Pankhursts left Emmeline and Fred ostracised from the movement, but she never stopped campaigning for electoral equality. In 1945, Emmeline became Lady Pethick-Lawrence when her husband was made a baron.

Plaque location: on the gate pillar next to Lewisham House, 80 Bristol Road Lower (BS23 2RS).

Born Mary Gladys Meredith, she was raised in Shropshire and became famous as an early 20th-century English romantic novelist and poet whose work is set chiefly in her home county’s countryside. In 1912, Mary married Henry Webb and they lived in Landemann Circus for two years before moving back to Shropshire, working as market gardeners. Publication of “The Golden Arrow” established her as a rising literary star but poor health and a failing marriage brought terminal decline, and she died in loneliness at St Leonard-on-Sea. Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin referred to Mary as a neglected genius in 1928, and her works became more widely appreciated.

Plaque location: on the wall of 8 Landemann Circus (BS23 2QF).

Ivy Millicent James was born at 1 Atlantic Villas to an artistic family and attended the School of Science and Art in Lower Church Road. Together with her sister Maud, she began publishing Christmas cards, postcards and calendars. Their works became highly prized and are now very collectable. Ivy was a keen Suffragette and designed the banner for the Weston-super-Mare branch of the Women’s Social and Political Union. Having lived in London in the 1920s, Ivy moved back to Weston when Maud died in 1930 and lived at 9 Grove Park Road for the next 35 years.

Plaque location: 9 Grove Park Road (BS23 2LW).

Roald Dahl spent four years from the age of nine at St Peter’s School, which was demolished in 1970. The site is now covered with housing. He famously described Weston as “slightly seedy” and the school as resembling a private lunatic asylum. He wrote 19 novels including “Matilda” in which the giant Headmaster and ogre Matron at Chrunchem Hall are clearly based on St Peter’s.

Plaque location: on the wall of 2 St Peter’s Avenue (BS23 2JU).

Leete’s work is known the world over for that truly iconic poster “Your Country Needs You”. His parents moved from farming in Northamptonshire to take ownership of the Addington Hotel, now converted to flats. He studied at Kingsholme School. He moved to London in 1899, his career as a paid artist began in 1897 when the Daily Graphic accepted one of his drawings. The poster for which he is best known, the Lord Kitchener poster design, first appeared on the cover of London Opinion on 5 September 1914. He was buried in Weston’s Milton Road Cemetery.

Plaque location: on the wall of Addington Court, Madeira Road (BS23 2EY).

After a distinguished career in the Royal Navy, poor health forced the 47-year-old Crimean War hero to retire to Weston-super-Mare where he settled with his wife in Claremont Crescent. His determination, courage and devotion to duty wading alone through several miles of swampy coastland to reconnoitre enemy batteries on the Arabat Spit in 1855, thereby saving many British lives, earned him the Victoria Cross, Britain’s highest award for gallantry. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1875.

Plaque location: on the Anchor Head Hotel, Claremont Crescent (BS23 2ED).

Born in South Africa, Kathleen’s family fled the Boer War to settle in south Wales. Always keen on sport, Kathleen became determined to try a spectacular swim, and decided on a crossing of the Bristol Channel. She entered the water at Penarth on 5 September 1927, aged 21. Seven hours and 20 minutes later she emerged at Anchor Head. She moved to London where she taught children to swim and, as a result, was barred from competing in the 1928 Olympics as she was considered a professional. She married in 1931 and had four children. On her death her ashes were cast into the Bristol Channel.

Plaque location: on the sea wall at Anchor Head.

Dr Edward Longfox was a pioneering psychiatrist who established an asylum at Brislington House in Bristol. He favoured a humane approach to mental illness, believing in exercise, fresh air, and activity, rather than straight jackets and confinement. He purchased Knightstone Island in 1830 and created a therapeutic spa with a range of hot, cold, and chemical baths.

Plaque location: on the wall of Dr Fox’s Bath House, Knightstone Island (BS23 2AD).

Hans Fowler Price was the architect responsible for much of the development of Weston-super- Mare. He worked in the town for over 50 years and left a significant legacy of buildings, including churches, schools and numerous villas. He redesigned the Town Hall, built the library and the town’s current museum.

Plaque location: on the former School of Science & Art, Lower Church Road, which is now part of Weston College (BS23 2AG).

John Hugh Smyth-Pigott inherited the manorial lordship of Weston-super-Mare on Christmas Day 1823. He encouraged village children to plant trees on the hillside initially to create a private game reserve but, once the trees began to mature, he opened this woodland to the public. He replaced the Medieval St John’s with a new parish church and greatly enlarged his residence at Grove House, most of which was destroyed during the Second World War. He also helped to begin changing Weston from a sleepy village to a town of rising middle-class pretension and expectation.

Plaque location: Grove House, Grove Park (BS23 2QJ).

Paulo Radmilovic was a Welsh water polo player and competitive swimmer. He was of Croatian and Irish descent. He won four Olympic titles in a 22 year Olympic career. In 1928, he became the first person to compete for Britain at five Olympic Games. He moved to Weston from Cardiff in 1904 and ran the Imperial Hotel for many years.

Plaque location: on the wall of Olea Bar & Restaurant, South Parade (BS23 1JN).

Born the son of a Langport coal merchant, Henry came to Weston aged 18 and subsequently became a successful entrepreneur and property developer. He was also a great benefactor who helped fund the Italian and Winter Gardens, and almost single-handedly raised £60,000 (£3.5 million today) to build a new hospital in the Boulevard. He became Weston’s first mayor in 1937.

Plaque location: on the front wall of the old hospital on the Boulevard, now part of a residential development aptly named Henry Butt House (BS23 1NF).

Albert Alexander was born in George Street and lived in Weston until 1921. He worked as a clerk in Somerset’s education department and became a Baptist lay preacher, NALGO secretary and vice-president of Weston‘s Co-operative Society. In 1922, he became Co-op/Labour MP for Sheffield Hillsborough. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Churchill invited him into the coalition cabinet as First Lord of the Admiralty, where he gained the reputation of being “Churchill’s favourite socialist”. He was thrice First Lord and subsequently, Attlee’s Minister of Defence. He entered the Lords in 1950 and was created Baron Weston-super-Mare in 1963. He is the only Westonian to have been made a Knight of the Garter and Companion of Honour.

Plaque location: on the wall of 33 George Street (BS23 3AT).

Following his father’s death from typhoid in 1884, Arthur’s family moved to ‘Varzin’, a house in Walliscote Road. He was educated at home and at a Weston prep school. After winning scholarships to Manchester and Cambridge, Arthur secured work at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich followed by Directorship of the Cambridge Observatory and Fellowship of the Royal Society. His work in astrophysics was ground breaking. He was the first scientist to investigate the evolution of stars, and remains one of the greatest astronomers of all time.

Plaque location: on the wall of 42 Walliscote Road (BS23 1XF).

Haile Selassie was the Emperor of Ethiopia between 1930 and 1974. His lineage claimed direct descent from King Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. Following his country’s invasion by Mussolini’s Italy in 1935, he and the rest of the Imperial family were rescued by HMS Capetown and they settled in Fairfield House, Bath for the duration of the Second World War. Haile Selassie enjoyed visiting Weston-super-Mare and swimming in the open-air pool (now the Tropicana). He returned home after the war, but was deposed in 1974 and died a prisoner. Today he is worshipped as God incarnate by the Rastafarian movement which has its origins in 1930’s Jamaica.

Plaque location: on the Tropicana, Marine Parade (BS23 1BE).

Born in London, Leslie Townes Hope came from a westcountry stone masonry family. His grandfather helped build Weston’s new seafront wall in 1883 and then crossed the Atlantic to join stone carvers on the Statue of Liberty. The family lived in Orchard Street and at Lindley Terrace in Southend Road before moving to Bristol. In 1907, they emigrated to America where Leslie later adopted the name Bob Hope. Hope’s career began in Vaudeville shows and Broadway productions. His first film contract was with Educational Pictures in 1930, before being signed by Paramount Pictures. During the Korean and Vietnam Wars he spent a lot of time entertaining the troops. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II made him an honorary knight in 1976.

Plaque location: 20 Southend Road (BS23 4JZ).

Born Deborah Jane Trimmer, she first stepped onto the stage at Weston’s Knightstone Pavilion in 1937. In a glittering career in films and on TV, she went on to win six Academy Award nominations. Deborah was born in Scotland but her family moved to Elmsleigh Road in 1938 when she became a pupil at Rossholme School. Encouraged by an aunt, and having studied drama and ballet, Deborah became a radio actress. She subsequently became a star of British cinema before Hollywood came calling. In 1957, Deborah Kerr was named ‘the world’s most famous actress’ by Photoplay Magazine.

Plaque location: 47 Elmsleigh Road (BS23 4JW).