Seaside piers were designed during Victorian times, to extend the jetties, so boats could drop off goods, before the invention of lorries!
Back in the day, piers were used solely for this purpose, and then for people to enjoy a ‘walk on the water’, taking advantage of these fantastic engineered items, made from steel and wood.
Today however, most piers are full of chip shops, souvenir shops and amusement arcades. Many have suffered from storm and fire damage (even arson). Today pier managers are installing sprinkler systems, to stop such events happening again.
Most of England’s remaining piers are now over 100 years old, and it’s essential that we preserve those that are left. There’s nothing like a walk on a pier, to breathe in the salty air of the sea, and gaze out to where holiday memories are made.
If at the coast, read our post on keeping dogs safe by the seaside.
Cleveland Pier, Yorkshire
Situated in north east England, this has a long walkway over the sea in Redcar and Cleveland. Again built from wood in the 1800s, storm damage and high waves have caused it to be rebuilt (the old wooden part is now lost to the sea).
Poet Sir John Betjeman (who helped to found National Piers Society) thought this pier to be the most beautiful in England. It’s also the country’s only Grade-1 listed pier that survives intact.
Southend Pier, Essex
This is the longest pleasure pier in the world (2km or 1.2 miles in old money). It even has a train, if you can’t walk that far!
First opened in the 1800s, it has (like most piers) been repaired and rebuilt many times). Built from wood and iron, it houses a small museum to show its history.
Due to many piers having had fires (due to arson, electrical faults, kitchen fires and one in the wall panel of an amusement arcade), this pier has invested in a sprinkler system that can shoot out 3500 metres of water a minute.
Ryde Pier, Isle of Wight
This is England’s oldest pier, on the Isle of Wight. It inspired the Beatles hit ‘Ticket to Ride‘. After Paul and John went to visit the former’s auntie, who lived in the town.
Again made from wood, this has stood for 200 years, so it’s doing very well! Again you can walk the pier, or take a train. When the tide is out, you can see the sand and mud below.
Southport Pier, Merseyside
This is the second-longest pier in England (after Southend), situated in a pretty seaside resort, just 20 miles from Liverpool.
This pier (like all of them) needs urgent investment (some people have fallen through holes of piers that need maintenance). Councils are short on funds.
But there are legal wranglings, as many would like this to be restored, as a symbolic gesture of community spirit. To celebrate the lives of the three young girls, recently murdered in a horrific stabbing attack in this friendly town.
Cromer Pier, Norfolk
Built in 1391, this was rebuilt in 1582 (Queen Elizabeth I granted the right for local people to export wheat, barley and malt, to make money to rebuild it).
The wooden jetty washed away in 1843, was destroyed by heavy seas, and built again to allow the lifeboat to operate. It was last damaged in 1993 when a 100-ton rig crashed into it (and damaged again the next year in another storm).
The pier is now almost as well-known as local lifeboat hero Henry Blogg, credited with saving more lives than anyone else during his time (873 lives, plus a dog who he later adopted).
The History of Brighton’s Three Piers
This Brighton pier art print is ideal to pretty up a wall in your home, office or an independent shop or tea room. It’s embellished with hand-painted collage papers.
Perfect to fit in a favourite frame, the print is carefully backed on recycled board and sent in a recycled board envelope. Recycle cellophane wrap at kerbside or supermarket bag bins.
The city of Brighton used to have three piers. The Chain Pier (built in 1823) was swept away in a single night during a storm in 1896 (the remains are still on the sea floor).
West Pier (1866) is now beyond repair, after much of it collapsed into the sea in 2003 (after arson attempts weakened it). Just the haunting skeleton now remains.
What remains is Brighton Palace Pier, which opened in 1899. Located opposite historic Old Steine in Brighton, it was used in the comedy film Carry On At Your Convenience (when the toilet factory workers take a trip to the seaside).
Laurel and Hardy both performed here, before moving to Hollywood.
The pier is very long, with three months in every year being taken up to paint it. It’s also lit up at night (not good news for local birds and wildlife).
The company that owns the pier now charges £2 for visitors (not local residents) to visit the pier in summer. There have not been complaints, as the huge running costs help to preserve the pier, rather than selling it to people who may turn it into flats!
Join National Piers Society
National Piers Society is run by volunteers to save the remaining piers in England (half have now gone). The site lists a history of all our piers, including a sad gallery of ‘lost seaside piers’.
Members receive an interesting magazine and get to vote for the annual ‘pier of the year!’ The online shop sells self-published books on piers (Hastings, Herne Bay, Yorkshire).
You can also buy paintings from artist Nina Carroll, who often travelled from Northamptonshire to paint piers, entranced by the Victorian ironwork.
Her work is important, as 14 of the piers she painted no longer survive (paintings were donated here after her death, to raise funds to preserve the rest).
You can also buy a Pier Passport (to tick off and record memories of piers). This is what one woman from Hastings did, after the beloved pier of her childhood was destroyed by arsonists.
It was rebuilt, but inspired her to journey 6500 miles over 23 counties, to visit all of the UK’s seaside piers.
One Hastings company now uses reclaimed pier wood to make nice home furniture.
Report Pier Litter to Your Council
As with everywhere, litter is a problem with piers. Use a personal ashtray to immediately extinguish cigarettes until you find a bin, to reduce fire risks.
No matter who dropped it, councils have responsibility to clean up litter on public land (or serve Litter Abatement Orders on private land – which issue fines or clean up and reclaim costs).
Report litter on or near piers (with photos if wished) to Fix My Street. These public reports are then sent to councils, to act.
Please Don’t Jump Off Piers
At least two teenage boys have suffered life-changing injuries (one has severe brain damage), after ‘tombstoning’ and landing in shallow water or landing the wrong way.
One warns others of the dangers, saying that he wishes again and again, that he had never taken the risk.
Interesting Books on Seaside Piers
100 Piers tells the stories of modest to grand piers, by a draughtsman who uses his creative skills to capture the essence of these amazing structures.
The Architecture of Britain Seaside Piers looks at these remarkable Victorian spectacles, using superb illustrations to show innovations in architecture and engineering that let people ‘walk on water’ for the first time.
