At West Bay Discovery Centre we have both permanent and temporary free exhibitions for you to enjoy. Our pop up exhibitions are popular and are changed on a regular basis, so the Centre is a place that you can visit time and again.

New Pop Up Exhibition West Bay – A Resort to Rival Others

Our new exhibition running until 31st December 2024 reveals what happened when some 140 years ago a group of local businessmen believed that with investment and imagination Bridport Harbour could become a seaside resort to rival Weymouth or Bournemouth. So what happened to West Bay’s dreams of tourism grandeur ?  Find out more this summer at the Discovery Centre.

Permanent Exhibition

Our permanent exhibition will introduce you to the history, geology and nature of West Bay. Get hands on with our interactive displays and audio-visual displays; and admire the artwork created by our young visitors. The aim of the exhibition is to transform how people discover and explore the natural and cultural heritage of the landscape. It will ignite your curiosity and encourage to explore West Bay in new ways.

Other Events

Talk: The History of the British Seaside in 100 Objects

Our autumn and winter talks are back!

Sandcastles, donkeys, piers and sticks of rock. Beach huts, paddle steamers, promenade shelters and ice cream cones. Our modern seaside is the sum of its parts, and all those parts have their history.  Seaside historian Kathryn Ferry will be charting the part these played in a talk entitled The History of the British Seaside in 100 Objects. The talk unpicks our experience of the seaside through the things that make it distinctive. Thursday 10th October at 7:30pm at Bridport Town Hall. Tickets £8 available from Bridport Tourist Information Office or on line.

Kathryn is the author of several books on seaside, architecture and design and the talk is based on Kathryn’s book Seaside 100, published by Unicorn in March 2020. She enjoys sharing her passions for the seaside and often appears on radio and television. Since first appearing on the BBC series Coast Kathryn has contributed to shows including BBC Breakfast, The One Show, Flog It!, the BBC Antiques Road Trip, Villages by the Sea, Britain Best Beach Huts and the Secrets of the London Underground. The talk is the high point of the West Bay Discovery Centre’s “A Resort to Rival Others” exhibition programme which runs until the end of December.

Book signing : West Bay – That Was The Year That Was

Sylvia Stafford will be at West Bay Discovery Centre on Thursday, October 17 between 11 am-2pm to sign copies of her new book entitled That Was The Year That Was.

It is based on Sylvia’s own journal, documenting life in the small harbour and popular tourist resort of West Bay in 2012.

Accompanied by many photographs, the book will give an illustrated look at the busy events of a working harbour as well as the history of town and its buildings. 

October Guided Walks

Bridport 24 Town of Culture are sponsoring our walks in October and our volunteer guides are trying something different with our walks this month! As we wander around West Bay on our river and historical walks we will be swapping images of old postcards for old paintings to illustrate the changes in West Bay over the past 200 years (see dates below). Don’t miss this chance to have a FREE guided walk and celebrate our local place and culture, every Thursday in October at 10:30 am from the Discovery Centre.

3rd October West Bay Hidden History
10th October West Bay Hidden History
17th October West Bay Hidden History
24th October West Bay Hidden History
31st October River and Rail

There are many events taking place in Bridport and West Bay until the end of December under the Bridport 24 Town of Culture project.

Spooktacular Half Term

Come and enjoy the Spooktacular Half-term activities at the West Bay Discovery Centre, between 26th of October to 3rd of November, including Monday (only during Half-term). The Centre will be filled with a wicked creepy crawler trail and exciting crafts activities for children.

Craft: Let’s Make West Bay The Holiday Resort of your Halloween Dreams.

Inspired by the fantastic plans for the ‘West Bay: A Resort to Rival All Others’ Exhibition we are inviting you to come and make the West Bay Holiday Resort of your Halloween dreams, out of cardboard, with Jo from Oops Wow Messy Art. We can make anything with cardboard and imagination; we can’t wait to see what you come up with! We need lots of space so this free event will be held at the Salt House at West Bay. Don’t forget to visit us at West Bay Discovery Centre hunt for the spiders and create a picture with autumn leaves.

Talk – The story of West Bay’s Industrial Past

Local author and historian Richard Sims is joining us for an illustrated talk about ‘ From Bridport Harbour to West Bay – The Story of its industrial past. Richard covers the history of Bridport Harbour to its transformation into West Bay. Beginning with how the land looked before the harbour was built, the creation of the harbour & its effect on trade. We will then focus on the shipyard, the building of warehouses, and the influence of the arrival of the railway in 1857. It will include how the decline in economic activity in the 1880s led to the rebranding of the harbour as a seaside resort & the new name of West Bay. Come and find out about how Bridport Harbour has changed over the centuries!

Limited numbers event so please book early to avoid disappointment. Tickets are £6 and are available by calling Bridport Tourist Information Office on 01308 424901 or book on-line at any time.