Hythe Pier – A Royal Visit
The Duke of Gloucester visited Hythe Pier to inspect the recently completed works to the railway tracks and shoreward platform, reflecting on the fact that the pier was once used by King George VI in 1944.
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Waverley – Successful Cruises to Southend Pier after Cancellations
The Waverley recently had to cancel all sailings after receiving propeller damage, although repairs have promptly taken place and it resumed sailing last Sunday – earlier than expected. On its first visit to Southend this year, on Monday, it received over 260 passengers from the Pier and continued to the Thames Forts. Sailings from Southend will continue until the 13th October.
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Clacton Pier – Christmas Programming
Management at Clacton Pier have released details and booking opportunities for Christmas-related pleasantries at the pier, which will begin at the end of November. These range from “Santa’s Grotto”, to animatronic sing-songs and a “4D” sleigh-ride. Needless to say, this all forms a critical point of the Pier’s annual programming and have been well-received by visitors in previous years.
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Weston Birnbeck Pier – WORK BEGINS
North Somerset Council confirmed that construction work in accordance with the first-phase restoration proposals has begun on the week commencing Monday 6th October. This specifically involves asbestos removal throughout the structure; the structural stabilisation of the 1888 Boathouse and infrastructure/public realm works to the foreshore. Teignmouth Maritime Services are undertaking the work and various machinery and generators could be observed being delivered to the island by boat earlier this week. Works to the tollhouse are expected to begin later this year, and all of the work is planned to be completed in 2025. The Birnbeck Regeneration Trust’s Webcam will surely receive considerable web traffic from those interested to track the progress of construction!
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Pier Webcam
Weston Birnbeck Pier (again) – Proposals Submitted for RNLI Developments
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Planning Documents
The RNLI have followed their recently-submitted planning applications, for structural restoration of the Pier bridge, with another set in recent weeks. This concerns the reinstatement of RNLI operations on the island, and largely runs parallel with work to be completed by North Somerset Council for the stabilisation of the island buildings.
In the proposed work, the RNLI will restore the Eastmost end of the existing Pavilion, retaining much of the masonry walls but reconstructing the roof and Eastgable end in a contemporary manner. This will contain RNLI staff facilities, a public engagement room (most likely an RNLI shop) and a boathouse for a Class-D lifeboat. The rest of the Pavilion will, rather poetically, remain for the time being in a largely ruined state. The North concrete terrace will be demolished and, near to the clock tower, an entirely new Class-B boathouse will be erected, adjoining the Pavilion and facing towards the existing slipway. This will be widened to meet modern lifeboat standards; lifeboat launches being tractor-driven. The 1902 lifeboat station and launch ramp have been decommissioned due to damage to the ramp and the existing facilities being unsuitable for modern-day RNLI operations. Needless to say, these facilities cannot be thusly improved without unacceptable compromises to the building’s historic fabric. In the proposals, minor structural repairs will take place and the building will later be regenerated as a visitor centre. The launch ramp will be shorn of damaged/dislodged components, but will never be used again.
The proposed architectural design of the new structures are decidedly contemporary in manner, but have been carefully integrated into the all-important historic context following consultations between the architects and the conservation officers. It is noted that the cast-iron arcade supporting a verandah along the South elevation of the Pavilion will be retained, but the roof structure will be removed since it interferes with the proposed first-floor window openings. The result will be a free-standing arcade of arches, quite reminiscent of the remains of Llandudno Pier Pavilion. Light-touch alterations will be made elsewhere around the island for the time being; a modest landscaping scheme laid to the South and East of the Pavilion, and the 1930s South concrete terrace fenced off as pleasingly as can possibly be done.
If the proposals are approved and work begins without delay, the true regeneration of Birnbeck Pier will arrive quite soon. The RNLI’s Weston operations from Knightstone has been a lamentable situation for the last ten years, made necessary by historical neglect to the Pier; their return to Birnbeck surely cannot come soon enough. The proposals set out presently are striking in their practical approach and the overall scheme appears to be realistic… something that could not be said of Birnbeck schemes in the past!
Below are several extracts from the proposals, as produced by Studio Four Architects and available on the NSC planning website (link above).
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Southend Pier – A Smash in Visitor Numbers and a Smash on the Railway
Southend Pier have recorded visitor numbers for a number of years and, after a discouraging revelation just prior to the Summer season, Southend Council now seem quite content with the outcome from this Summer season. 160,000 visitors arrived between June-August, with 60,000 in August alone. No comparative values for the previous year are provided, but based on the response from Council officers it must compare favourably indeed. Reports to visitor numbers are regularly released but tend to be inconsistent in their date ranges, often varying from half-years to full-years, financial years, Summer seasons, individual months and half-term periods. Taking the 60,000 value for August, this can be compared with 71,000 in August 2019 and 74,000 in 2021. Questions aside, the programme of events through the Summer have indeed been highly popular and well-organised, notwithstanding several weather-related cancellations. Through the Council’s interventions, it would seem that Southend Pier’s versatility and purposefulness have expanded greatly in the last year.
One of the pier’s trains was damaged on Sunday, having collided with the buffers at the Pier Head Station. This coincided with the arrival of the Waverley, leading to considerable delays for those passengers wishing to arrive in Southend via the railway. A diesel replacement was shortly provided. Pier management are presently investigating this bizarre circumstance and railway operations are said to continue as normal.
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Worthing Pier – Temporary Closure due to Structural Damage
Adur & Worthing Council have confirmed that Worthing Pier has been closed, following damage to the substructure in recent storm damage. It is expected that necessary repairs will commence on the 15th October and continue for several days. The Pier’s beloved “Perch on the Pier” restaurant received 12 hours of notice for the closure, such was the urgency of the situation following the Council’s regular structural inspections.
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South Shields Pier – Repairs Continue and New Lighthouse Dome
The South Pier for the mouth of the River Tyne, a substantial structure in stone and historically a fine walking and fishing attraction, has recently received substantial storm damage and has been closed to the public for the last few years. The Port of Tyne have completed the installation of the lighthouse’s new dome, fabricated from copper. Much of the pier parapet will also need replacing and this will not be completed until into 2025.
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Worthing Pier – Closure Extended
Worthing Pier was previously closed by the Council for emergency structural repairs to take place. The two restaurant businesses, Perch on the Pier and Tern, were forced to close their operations on the pier whilst this work tool place. Tern has secured temporary accommodation at the East Beach Cafe in Littlehampton, whilst Perch on the Pier will presumably relocate to its sister sites elsewhere in the area. The situation has, inevitably, worsened with the Council extending the closure – most likely to the end of November. This situation has resulted in considerable impact on businesses and local residents and demonstrates the seriousness of even a relatively short closure of such a pier.
Adur and Worthing Council have released an information page which reveals the damage to be quite serious – the effective loss of one of the pier’s cast iron piles. The proposed repair schedule is also set out on this page.
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Clacton Pier – Further Awards Acquired
The general manager of Clacton Pier, Harry Peek, attended the Tendring4Growth Business Awards and was presented with the Hospitality and Attraction award for Clacton Pier. This followed two weeks of events for local business owners, organised by Tendring District Council’s Economic Development department.
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Southsea South Parade Pier – A Frenzy for the Filmmakers
“There is a man… in a yellow coat!”, the video from a spying aerial drone ventures to suggest. This is, apparently, the actor Ryan Gosling, working in the rather utilitarian environment of the pier’s landing stage, and heavily screened from public view. All this work will eventually conjure the American science-fiction film, “Project Hail Mary”, to be released in 2026. The pier became quite famous in cinematic circles for its appearance in a fire scene in the 1975 film “Tommy”, which used several shots of the burning pavilion which the film production process had inadvertently set fire to.
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Blackpool South Pier – A Little Review from The Gazette
A sympathetic “review”, of sorts, from a reporter of Blackpool Gazette. Aside from the quality of the sea views from the pier, the reporter was quite enthralled by the circus tent-style ceiling covering in the amusement arcade; an effect which would have been even more dramatic when there once existed an exterior reciprocation of the same; this adorned the entrance building until about 15 years ago. An attached video (thankfully, in landscape orientation), gives various views of the modern-day pier; the atmosphere rather tepid in the out-of-season time of year. It is undeniable, however, that the beach and coastline of Blackpool is an exceptional asset to the town, whatever the time of year.
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New German Pier Opened in Prerow
NPS Member Martina Weyreter has provided the following report on a newly-opened pier on the German coast.
“Yet another new pier opened on the German Baltic coast this Wednesday (16 October). The remote resort of Prerow on the Darss peninsula is now home to the longest pier on the whole of the Baltic at 720 metres (2362 ft). This is also the longest pier Germany has ever had, replacing a previous wooden pier dating back to 1993 which was only about half as long.
The end of the new pier forms a small emergency harbour for 33 yachts and also serves as a lifeboat station, though pleasure craft may be able to call here in the future. It was built – at a cost of €47 million – primarily because the nearest other harbour was slowly silting up and could no longer be used. However, it also makes an excellent promenade pier and is expected to boost tourism.
The opening, which included live music and a light show, was attended by hundreds of people. But before you all start packing your bags now, be aware that this place is miles away from any train station and not easy to reach except by car.”
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Worthing Pier – Fireworks Display Cancelled
In a development which is not entirely surprising, Adur and Worthing Council have been forced to cancel the planned fireworks display from the pier, organised by Worthing Lions to take place on the 5th November. The anticipated completion date for the structural repairs continues to stand at late-November. No alternative location for the fireworks display has been arranged.
The second link gives several photographs of the Council’s temporary working compound outside the pier, containing the wreckage which once constituted one of the pier’s cast-iron piles and associated bracing.
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Clacton Pier – Fireworks Display Heralded
Clacton will enjoy two fireworks displays on the evening of the 5th November. The first will take place at 5:30PM; a “low-level display”: catering for those who are displeased with fireworks of the noisy variety. And then, at 8PM, the full display will very much delight those who revel in Fortissimo works of fire. Pier management have adjusted the display times to account for it being a school night; making it more convenient for families to attend.
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Llandudno Pier – Happy Valley Entrance Restoration Begins
The previously-proposed reinstatement of Llandudno’s original entrance, leading off Happy Valley Road, has now begun with the delivery of several new structural elements to the site. It is expected that this entrance will be open early in the new year.
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Blackpool North Pier – The Helter Skelter Goes and Katie Hopkins Comes
Storm Ashley hit Blackpool on Sunday; the damage to the North Pier is hinted at in the following, rather skeletal, article. It suggests that the Helter Skelter was dislodged and drawn out to sea, whilst minor damage to the North-side seating was evident. No acknowledgement of this damage has yet been made by pier management.
Meanwhile, Katie Hopkins comes to the pier. Such programming in the Joe Longthorne Theatre is a matter of caustic controversy amongst members of the social media world, although it must be said that, in terms of numbers, the event was startlingly successful. More photographs can be seen on Blackpool North Pier’s Facebook page.
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Penarth Pier – In Lego Format
The following article showcases a Lego enthusiast, who has pursued the replication of local Cardiff landmarks in the Lego format. Included amongst these is Penarth Pier, of course, and Tenby Lifeboat Station (the old station; now converted to a residence).
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