The long and short story about our resort pier
IDON’T know how many of you will have seen it, but there was an excellent article about Cleethorpes recently in a national newspaper. Under the headline “A Pier of the Realm”(accompanied by a photo of the pier pavilion taken prior to its 2015 refurbishment) was a subtitle “Britain at its Best: Cleethorpes”.
The feature began by mentioning the pier, described as “the ultimate hardy survivor” which was now the home to Papa’s “thoroughly decent” fish and chips. However, it erred when saying about 90 per cent of its original length had been “destroyed by fires and by deliberate destruction – to stop it becoming a landing pad for German aircraft.”
For at 335ft Cleethorpes Pier is just over 25 per cent of its initial 1,200ft length, while it was the misguided fear of Germany landing shipping at the pier head which caused it to be sectioned during the Second World War.
And the long isolated pier neck did in fact survive the conflict, but was ultimately demolished after Cleethorpes Borough Council felt the amount offered by the Government wasn’t enough to support reconstruction.
These niggles though will only matter to pier anoraks and local historians. What we should all be pleased at is the positive nature of the written piece, praising Cleethorpes for adopting the “well-balanced middle ground” as compared to Skegness (sticking to tradition) and Margate (trying to attract a new clientele). Which is as it should be. Not everyone wants exclusive bars and restaurants, some of us like the cheap and cheerful cafes that can still be found throughout our local resort. Mention is also made of The Signal Box Inn, Steel’s, Seaview Street, Petit Delight and Message in a Bottle, also Healing Manor, where the writer stayed.
Tim Mickleburgh,
Boulevard Avenue, Grimsby.