THE WEST PIER BRIGHTON
WARNING:
THE
BANDERSNATCH BLOG CONTAINS INFORMATION AND OPINIONS THAT THE PUBLIC
MIGHT FIND OFFENSIVE. PLEASE NOTE THAT ALL INFORMATION WILL BE
CHECKED AND OPINIONS DO NOT REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF THE MAIN BLOGGER
HERSELF.
Hey
there Earthlings, Alternatives and Trollers. Put down that mouse and
lend an ear. Welcome to The Bandersnatch blog where we talk weird,
wacky and wondrous. I'm Mama Ogre and I have no idea what I'm doing.
I
hope you are sharing the day with the person you love no matter who
you are or wherever you are.
As
you should know Fridays is Funday blog day were we talk anything and
everything and pretty much run with it. Today's blog is on The West
End Pier in Brighton.
The
West Pier is one of two piers in the city of Brighton and Hove on the
south eastern English coast, the other being The Brighton Palace
pier. The west pier was built during the boom in pleasure pier
building in the 1860's, 22 new piers were build across Britain in
this decade. The west pier was designed by architect Eugenius Birch
as a place for seaside visitors to enjoy fresh seaside air. The pier
was contested by rich owners of the regency homes nearby however due
to the thought that property prices would go up and the pier was
approved. Construction began in 1863 and was completed in 1866 with
the grand opening happening on October 6th.
By
the early 20th century the need for entertainment replaced
the urge for the earlier priority of good sea air. The piers
attendance was pretty high reaching 1.5 million visitors between 1910
and 1911. attendance fell due to the onset of WW1 (Obviously) before
resurging after the war getting up to 2 million people between 1918
and 1919 alone. Competition with the palace pier prompted to the
addition of a music hall. It was designed by local architects Clayton
and Black. It was opened on April 26th 1916 with a concert
by the King's Royal Rifles silver band, made up of war veterans.
During
WW2 the piers central decking was removed to prevent enemy landing,
which prompted its decline. On November 26th 1944 A Royal
Air Force Hawker Typhoon fighter hit the pier and crashed onto the
beach, the pilot sustained head injuries but survived. The typhoon
was one of four aircraft escorting a VIP flight. In the 1950's a
funfair was added whilst the convert hall became a tea room and the
theatre redesigned as a restaurant though by the 1960's the pier was
suffering by financial issues and the company who owned it went into
liquidation. The remainder of the pier closed in 1975 and the
ownership passed to the Crown estate commissioners.
After
1975 there were several attempts to rebuilt the pier but due to
monetary issues that failed to happen. The pier suffered damage due
tot he great storm of 1987 and in 1991 access from the shore was
removed for safety reasons. In 1998 the national lottery pledged 14
million pounds but the west pier trust who owned the pier since1983
couldn't find a suitable partner for restoration. The palace pier
also contested this due to becoming self-sufficient on their own. By
2001 the west pier had become a most at-risk grade 1 listed structure
in the UK.
In
December 2002 the pier partially collapsed due to a particularly
nasty storm in January 2003 what was left of the concert hall fell
into the sea leaving the pier very close to collapsing. On March 28th
2003 the pavilion on the pier head caught fire in what is publicly
believed to be arson. The firefighters couldn't reach it due to the
piers partial collapse. A secondary fire in May damaged it further,
by the end of June the pier was completely closed after strong winds
took down a good chink of the remaining pier.
The
arrival of the i360 has revived the interest in the west pier and
prompted a suggestion of rebuilding by the year 2026 for the 160th
year of the piers original opening. Though by October 2016 it was
concluded that restoration of the west pier were it used to be was
not the best idea.
THE
WEBSITE BIBLIOGRAPHY:
And
there you have it, we'll be leaving this here for today. Please be
considerate when you leave a comment. Share with others if you want
or not. Don't
forget We HAVE PATREON! please consider becoming a Patreon today.
Tuesday is book blog day and remember all abuse will be tracked and
reported to the appropriate people.
COVID-19
NOTICE:
Remember
to follow your governments guidelines during this time. continue to
self-isolate/quarantine yourself and remain six feet from others as
and when necessary if having to go outside.
STAY
SAFE, STAY INFORMED, STAY ALIVE.
THIS
IS THE BANDERSNATCH, I'M MAMA OGRE AND REMEMBER STAY WEIRD,
STAY WACKY, STAY WONDEROUS AND I'LL SEE YOU SOON...
Comments
Post a Comment