If you’re a star, you appear on a pier
WHAT’S the purpose of the National Piers Society?
The society was founded by Sir John Betjeman in 1979 and campaigns to raise awareness of Britain’s piers and to save those in danger. We have more than 750 members, from as far afield as the USA, Australia and Russia. WHO came up with the idea of the pier and why?
Early piers were built by boat operators frustrated at being unable to land passengers. Railway companies also financed piers in order to cater for passengers arriving in resorts by special excursion trains. WHAT difficulties were faced in building them?
Many! The “golden years” of pier building were between 1860 and 1900. Work could only be carried out at low tide and the risk of injury was huge.
Without modern construction techniques, many piers were built using moored barges as working platforms, meaning construction was at the sea’s mercy. Storms and high tides damaged many piers while still under construction – sometimes months of work would be washed away in just hours. WERE they immediately popular with the public?
The early piers were rather exclusive, with many charging a toll in order to exclude the riff-raff! Skegness piers, all of which have been repaired and re- opened in time for the 2014 summer season. FAMOUS visitors to piers?
Royalty includes Queen Victoria, King George V and our present Queen. Gwyneth Paltrow recently visited Jamie Oliver’s café on Southend Pier and One Direction filmed the video for one of their songs on Clevedon Pier. There’s also the hundreds of famous entertainers who’ve appeared in pier theatres like Morecambe andWise. HOW many piers at their peak and how many now?
In the period between 1880 and 1910, there were more than 100. Today, 58 remain. It’s estimated that almost 70% of the British population have visited at least one pier in the last five years. HOW does the future look for piers?
After a period of severe recession when overseas package holidays decimated the UK tourist industry, the rise of “staycationing” has breathed new life into British seaside resorts and piers are enjoying a renaissance. However, the effects of climate change do pose a long-term threat to the stability of these unique and graceful structures.
On the Yorkshire coast the residents of Redcar have launched a campaign for a new pier to be built and the development of a pier in Fo l k e s t o n e has just been announced.
We haven’t seen the end of the seaside pier – not by a long shot!
However, piers soon had to provide their visitors with entertainment in order to justify the entrance toll – by the late 1820s attractions such as camera obscuras and kiosks were found on some piers.
The first pier to be opened with a pavilion on it was Hastings in 1872, making it the first purpose- built “pleasure pier”. WAS there a pre- eminent builder and designer of piers?
Eugenius Birch (1818-’84) was the most prolific and respected pier engineer. He was responsible for the construction of 14 piers between 1853 and 1884, seven of which remain today. His most famous structures are BrightonWest, Blackpool North, Hastings and Eastbourne piers, which are renowned for their ornate and intricate iron
work.
Birch’s masterstroke was the use of iron piles instead of wood, which he anchored to the ground using a screw pile technique. WHEN did the “end of the pier” style of entertainment begin?
As well as receiving boats, pier owners soon erected cafés, bandstands and pavilions and some piers even had their own orchestras. Concert parties didn’t start until the 1880s when paid holidays were introduced, resulting in a massive influx of workers seeking a different type of entertainment. This also included open- air dancing, roller skating, dodgems and arcades.
The very first “end of the pier” variety show took place in 1911 on Scarborough Pier ( sadly, it wasn’t that popular and the pier was demolished in 1914). MOST unusual or unique pier?
Each pier is unique, but Birnbeck Pier at Weston- Super- Mare connects the mainland to an island. Sadly, this pier is in a dangerous condition and has been closed to the public for some years. Llandudno Pier has two entrances and a dog leg in the middle. The shortest pier in Britain is at Burnham-On-Sea and the longest at Southend. MOST popular pier and why?
In terms of visitor numbers it’s a close call between Brighton Pier and Weston- Super- Mare’s Grand Pier. Both offer a huge variety of attractions to cater for all ages. WORST incident or disaster involving a pier?
There are too many to list! The pier at Hythe in Hampshire was sliced in half by a ship in 2003.
The piers at Weston-Super-Mare and Hastings were destroyed by fire in 2008 and 2010 respectively.
During 2014, the winter storms and tidal surges caused millions of pounds worth of damage to Blackpool North, Saltburn, Cromer, Teignmouth and