‘Go out to help out’ offer launched at Clacton Pier
Clacton Pier is set to launch its own Go Out to Help Out scheme offering half price rides to help the resort bounce back after the Covid-19 pandemic. The initiative will apply to rides each weekend as well as video games, adventure golf, bowling and entry to the seaquarium every day until September 30 from 5pm to 6pm.
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Llandudno Pier gets an ‘appalling erection’!
A lighthouse chippy at the entrance to Llandudno Pier has been slammed as an “appalling erection” – with council planners now getting involved. The 20ft structure appeared at the historic pier before the weekend and has instantly divided opinion. Some on social media say it fits in with a seaside location but not everyone is convinced that a Conservation Area is the right location for the tall chip shop.
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RNLI forges ahead with plans for Birnbeck Pier
The RNLI confirmed last month it wants to return to the Grade II*-listed pier and hailed North Somerset Council’s intervention to force its sale as a “positive step”. After the compulsory purchase, the authority would transfer the landmark to the RNLI. In its listed building application, the charity says it wants to survey the support trestles, abutments and foundations so its plans for the pier can advance to concept design stage.
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PS Waverley collides with Brodick Pier
A total of 17 people have been injured after the paddle steamer Waverley collided with Brodick Pier in Arran. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said “a number have been taken to hospital” following the incident. People stranded in Arran were later due to be returned to the mainland by an emergency sailing of a CalMac ferry
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PS Waverley will sail again in 2021
The paddlesteamer Waverley will sail again next year – following a crash in Scotland which left it needing major repairs. Dozens of people were injured after the ship crashed into Brodick Pier on the Isle of Arran at around 5.30 pm on September 3. The ship had only been back in service for a couple of weeks following a multi million pound refurbishment of its boilers.
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Geographical Magazine takes a short look at a long pier
Stretching for 1.3 miles over sheets of shimmering sand, Southend Pier is the longest in the world. Walking to the end and back is almost the same distance as climbing the Matterhorn. On a hot day it can seem as challenging. Most visitors let the pier train take the strain, before cooling off with an ice cream, or perhaps sending a postcard from the pier’s own letterbox.
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Restaurant owner calls for the rebuilding of Southampton Royal Pier
Kuti Miah has described the city waterfront as horrible and ugly. The owner of Kuti’s Brasserie, based at the Royal Pier Gate House, suggests rebuilding the pier so visitors can watch ships dock. Kuti wants to see the waterside park transformed to house boutique shops, coffee bars and restaurants.
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‘Pay what you like’ theatre at Hastings Pier
Hastings Pier offers a pay-what-you-like theatre performance on Sunday, September 13 at 4pm, with audience members asked to make a contribution at the end.
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Skegness Pier goes on the market with a £3 million price tag
Skegness Pier is being put up for sale by its owners after 40 years. The structure, which first opened in 1881, has been owned by the Mitchell family since 1976. The current owners are due to retire. Property agent Christie & Co said the opportunity to buy the pier, which has a guide price of £3m, was something of “a rarity”.
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Improvements and upgrades continue at Clacton Pier
Clacton Pier director Billy Ball apologised for the inconvenience, but said the works are unavoidable. “We just have a few tweaks to make on the ride deck which it is hoped will take us no longer than the day to complete,” he said. “The project is all part of our on-going improvements to the ride deck and upgrade of our attraction.”
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Major restoration work begins at Blankenberge Pier
Major restoration works will start on the Pier next month, which will last a total of three years. The walkway will be completely rebuilt in white concrete, based on the original 1930s design by Jules Soete. “The works will be an attraction in themselves,” says Alderman Jurgen Content.
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Live music events paused at Hastings Pier
The operators of Hastings Pier have decided there will be no more live bands or DJ sets for the foreseeable future after reports an event, held last weekend, was ‘not managed in an entirely Covid-secure way’, Hastings Borough Council has confirmed.
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Cromer Pier struggles without theatre revenue
Cromer traders say they have enjoyed a bumper summer, but its famous pier and theatre has warned it could take five years for it to recover from the impact of coronavirus. Francis Guildea, the general manager of Cromer Pier, said the summer had been a “constant challenge” because the Pavilion Theatre, which accounts for 70pc of the business, had been forced to close.
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Cromer Pier Christmas Show cancelled, but Strictly Variety extended until Sunday 27th September
Due to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, Openwide announced that the Autumn programme of touring shows along with the Cromer Pier Christmas Show will not go ahead this year. However, the ‘Strictly Variety’ show has been extended until Sunday 27th September. Please show your support for Cromer Pier Theatre – home of the only remaining ‘end of the pier show’ in the world.
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A great look back at Skegness Pier, past and present
When Skegness Pier first opened in the summer of 1881, it was the fourth longest in England at 562m. The T-shaped structure with a concert hall at the end is exactly what you’d expect to have in a respectable Victorian seaside town. Fast-forward 139 years and the pier is being sold by Christie & Co with a guide price of £3 million. The sale is due to the retirement of the current owner Carolyn Wilkinson, daughter of the late Robin Mitchell.
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The fascinating story of how Southend could have been Thamesmouth
Fancy heading down to Thamesmouth seafront this weekend? How about a stroll along Thamesmouth Pier? The name just doesn’t have the same ring to it as Southend does, but believe it or not there was once a concerted effort to change the name of the borough to ‘Thamesmouth’. It began in 1907 when Southend jewellery store owner, businessman and philanthropist Robert Arthur Jones wrote an open letter to the people of Southend in a newspaper, suggesting the name change.
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Compulsory purchase order served for Birnbeck Pier
North Somerset Council has served a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) to the private owners of Birnbeck Pier. It intends to “immediately” transfer the Weston-Super-Mare site to the RNLI. The RNLI said it would oversee the repair of the Grade II* listed pier, the return of public access and the demolition of unsafe structures. CNM Estates, which owns the pier, was served an order to carry out repairs in September last year, but no work has been done.
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Stunning new circular jetty opens in Australia
At Australia’s new structure in the Eyre Peninsula city of Whyalla, in South Australia, the whole jetty concept has had quite the upgrade. The basics are still the same — it’s still a platform that juts out over the sea, of course, and you still walk along it and soak in the coastal splendour — but this one has a huge circle in the middle, as well as LED lights along its handrails
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First bay of Ramsey Queen’s pier restoration nears completion
Queens Pier Restoration Trust plans to allow residents to come and see the plaques for themselves as well as the completed Bay 1 section. Once ready, the trust intends to then invite groups of up to ten people at a time to come and see the work so far.
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Next month will mark 50 years since the partial collapse of Clevedon Pier
At around 10.20am on October 16, 1970, two spans of the Victorian landmark fell into the muddy waters, while a team of maintenance workers were undertaking a bi-annual load test on the structure. Many people across the town reported hearing a creaking and groaning noise before the pier – after years of neglect – succumbed to the elements.
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Ryde Pier tramway to be transformed into a pedestrian walkway
The ambitious proposals include the long-awaited regeneration of the town’s transport interchange with vast improvements for pedestrians and cyclists not only at this key transport hub, but along the entire length of Ryde Esplanade to Appley. It follows a successful bid to the government’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) which will see £10 million invested in Ryde.
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Owner denies rumours of Hastings Pier sale
Rumours began circulating that current owner Sheikh Abid Gulzar had decided to sell the Grade II listed structure, which he has owned since June 2018. Hastings Pier Amusements, who had been operating there this summer, said they would not be back next year ‘as the pier has new owners’. The pier’s current operator Music First Events will remain in place until October 4, when their tenure is due to end.
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