An ambitious scheme to reinstate HERNE BAY pier at a cost of £40 million has hit the buffers after Canterbury City Council indicated they could not foresee raising any part of the sum required.

Plans have been unveiled to construct a 1,600 ft long artificial reef 300 metres east of BOSCOMBE pier. The reef, which will be made of hundreds of sunken sandbags, will be built about a quarter of a mile offshore. It is designed to amplify by two and a half times the size of waves rolling on to the beaches, greatly improving surfing opportunities. A chalet complex will also be built along the promenade for surfers and their equipment. The plan, which is based on the design of artificial reefs built along Australia’s Gold Coast, could threaten Newquay’s position as surfing capital of the UK, as Bournemouth is much more easily accessed from the rest of Britain. This huge scheme is linked to the rebuilding of BOSCOMBE pier. Revised, and considerably more modest, plans for this have now been passed by Bournemouth Council. The 1950s kiosks at the pier entrance, which were recently spotlisted, are retained and the pier head (where the derelict Mermaid Theatre currently sits) will be a simple T-shape, without the planned tower and revolving restaurant. There will also be no landing stage, and the pier will be shorter than at present. There will be a heritage display along the pier’s central walkway similar to the one on Bournemouth pier. The Society has written to Bournemouth Council, owners of the pier, expressing its concern at the reduction in the pier’s length.

The same Council has also approved estimates involving significant long-term investment in BOURNEMOUTH’s own pier, with the notable exception of the structure’s landing stages, which are under threat. The Council are also planning to let on long leases the theatre, café and bar, the Showbar and the six businesses around the perimeter of the arcade. The pier toll levied between 1 April and 31 October (currently 50p, children 30p) will remain.

The “bootleg” Birdman Rally due to be held on EASTBOURNE pier on 7 August was cancelled for lack of entries, but the official Rally on BOGNOR REGIS pier two weeks later attracted plenty of interest, after being bailed out at the last moment with a grant of £8,000 from Bognor Town Council. The Birdmen, who came from Australia, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan as well as Northern Ireland and locally, were given two opportunities to fly, on the Saturday and Sunday. On Saturday aircraft designer and test pilot Bill Brooks flew 54.2 metres against an adverse wind. The following day aerospace engineer Andrew Bill drew gasps from the crowd as he flew 71.2 metres in his craft Beast of Bognor II. But the outright winner, for the seventh time in the Rally’s history, was 49-year old hang-gliding instructor Ron Freeman from Northumberland. Flying as The Bald Eagle he managed 77.6 metres before hitting the water, not far enough to scoop the £25,000 jackpot but gaining him the International Birdman Trophy for 2005. Among the comical entries this year were local pub landlord Paul Taylor, flying as a giant chicken and mushroom pie, and glamorous Blue Peter presenter Zoe Salmon (not dressed as a fish!) EASTBOURNE did, however, stage a Round The Pier Raft Race on 21 August.

The first stage of BOGNOR pier’s roof garden refurbishment has been completed at a cost in excess of £150,000, and was given a low-key opening early in September. The attractively designed building replaces a ladies toilet block (formerly the dressing rooms of the old Roof Garden Repertory Theatre in the 1950s) and provides a covered link between the existing Conservatory Bar and the Snooker Club. A similar link is planned for the opposite wing. A fine view of the new building may be obtained from the bay windows of the Mud nightclub on the opposite side of the promenade, whose second floor bar is open to non-members from 12 noon on Saturdays and Sundays.

A 16-year old youth was seriously injured on 24 August after jumping off BOGNOR pier and being caught in the pier supports. Owner John Ayres reports that pier jumping remains a serious problem, despite notices warning of the dangers.

Still in BOGNOR, the annual Sands of Time seaside festival was held on 10 and 11 September and attracted many visitors to its displays and events, despite indifferent weather. A sea rescue demonstration involving the Selsey and Littlehampton lifeboats attracted a large crowd on to the pier, where a fireworks display was held on the Saturday evening.

Waverley Excursions were forced to impose a £1 surcharge on all trips from 7 August, due to the escalating price of fuel. Pre-paid trips were not affected, nor were children’s fares. The surcharge compares well with those imposed by coaches and airlines.

Wightlink Fastcat services between Portsmouth Harbour and RYDE (IOW) pier were temporarily suspended on 19 August. The local coastguard withdrew the vessels’ operating certificates after learning of two unreported engine room fires on board one of them. Wightlink brought in car ferries to transport stranded passengers. Meanwhile, plans have been released by architects Marks Barfield for a new transport interchange building at the front of RYDE pier. This would involve the construction of a new access road from the bottom of Union Street, by way of a new roundabout.

Noisy and ill-tempered disputes between rival boat companies operating from FALMOUTH PRINCE OF WALES pier have caused a 40% drop in business this summer. The main culprits are apparently George Pill senior and his brother John. Mr Pill senior and his son George junior have been told by the piermaster that they may land passengers from their boat Princess Maud, but must not step ashore themselves.

A 25-minute land train was in operation during the summer linking BOSCOMBE pier to Southbourne.

A 1950s lino cut print of BRIGHTON WEST by Edward Bawden sold in July for three and a half times its reserve price at Strides auction rooms in Chichester. The buyer, a telephone bidder, paid a staggering £10,500 for the picture, nearly £10,000 more than a similar print fetched in an international London saleroom just six years ago.

An 18-mile pier to pier walk from HASTINGS to EASTBOURNE was organised on 17 September to raise funds for the Breakthrough Breast Cancer charity.

A feature lighting scheme illuminating SALTBURN’s pier, amusement arcade, cliff lift and chalets from dusk to midnight was ceremonially switched on on 6 October. The £385,000 scheme is underwritten by the pier’s owners Redcar & Cleveland Borough Council, working in partnership with Groundwork South Tees. It is part of a £750,000 improvement plan which also involves better access to the water-powered cliff lift by providing a ramp suitable for wheel and pushchairs, and installing new seating and railings.

A major redevelopment scheme costing £89 million is planned for WEYMOUTH’s Commercial and Pleasure pier. Private developer Howard Holdings has been selected to work in partnership with owners Weymouth & Portland Borough Council on this huge site, which also embraces the Pavilion theatre and ferry terminal. A new theatre, hotel, swimming pool, luxury flats and multi-storey car park are among the options envisaged. The National Piers Society and the Theatres Trust are both being consulted.

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has launched a scheme offering plaques on the decking of PENARTH pier. For £25 you can purchase a brass plaque measuring 100mm x 12mm which can be engraved with your name or any other suitable message up to twelve characters long. (It is not know whether it has to be in Welsh!) For further information telephone 01446 704754 or email tourism@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

The condition of the Grade II listed wooden pier at YARMOUTH, Isle of Wight is giving cause for concern. 28 piles will need to be replaced by 2007 and a further 20 piles by 2012. The Yarmouth Harbour Commissioners, who own the structure as well as the neighbouring breakwater and moorings, remain fully committed to the pier. Income is derived from Pay & Display car parking charges controversially introduced on Town Quay a few years ago, pier tolls of 20p per visitor (in an “honesty box”, replacing the former turnstile), rental income from Gossips café and occasional landing fees from p.s. Waverley.

BRIGHTON PALACE pier took out display advertising in the London Evening Standard during the school summer holidays to promote its attractions. The pier attracted attention of a different kind on 23 August when police raided it and arrested seven workers, who were charged with illegal entry into the UK and were immediately transferred to a detention centre near Heathrow airport. The raid, which was said to be “intelligence led”, saw the pier closed for three hours.

Meanwhile, BRIGHTON PALACE has once more applied to the city council for temporary planning permission for the makeshift dome building erected in 1986 to replace the Grade II listed theatre, which formerly housed summer shows. This is the third time the City Council has granted permission for the building to stay up. The remains of the theatre, which should have been reinstated after damage to the underdeck was repaired, are said to have been “lost”, though two of its domes were offered for sale on e-Bay recently.

The 24th Annual General Meeting of the BRIGHTON WEST Pier Trust was held on 28 October. The meeting had been delayed so that an important announcement regarding a new partnership deal with a “prestigious” private sector partner may be unveiled. The scheme is said to blend preservation of as much as possible of the old pier with a dramatic new feature. Visit www.westpier.co.uk for updates.

BRIGHTON beach between the two piers was the venue for the 2005 All-Weather Stone Skimming Championship held on 11 September. Last year’s winner was Stuart Digby, nicknamed “The Bird”.

The Vergara pier (Muelle Vergara) in VINA DEL MAR, CHILE has been taken over by the local authority after failing to attract any interest at auction. The pier is situated between the Mirasol and Acapulco beaches in this attractive seaside resort facing the Pacific Ocean. Built in 1910 for cargo boats unloading coal and sugar from ships docking in neighbouring Valparaiso harbour, and originally rail connected, the pier became a leisure complex in 1983 featuring restaurants and craft shops. The 1938 loading crane was retained as a tourist attraction. Declared a historic monument in 2000, the pier has until now been in the hands of a private company now alleged to have been involved in a 120 million peso swindle (approx. £2.4 million). Both users (fishermen and tourists) and the various retail outlets on the pier await are anxiously awaiting developments.

RNLI officials have been in BOURNEMOUTH to inspect the first of the new £2 million hi-tech Tamar class lifeboats destined to replace part of the existing fleet. The 52ft. seven-man crew boats are capable of rescuing 100 people at once. They have eye-in-the-sky cameras for the crew to survey surrounding waters, and infra-red technology to find victims in the dark. Powered by two 1.5 tonne, 1,000 horse power Caterpillar engines, they can maintain a speed of 28 knots for up to ten hours. The crew sit in armchair comfort in their command deck.

One lifeboat station unlikely to receive the new “jet fighter of the seas” is on MUMBLES pier. The pier’s crumbling lifeboat house is now unfit to house the existing lifeboat, which is twenty-two years old and nearing the end of its useful life. The boat is currently moored close to the end of the pier. An additional problem is insufficient depth of water to launch the boat on spring tides.

The party conference season seems to come round very quickly. This year the Liberal Democrats were in BLACKPOOL (18-22 September), Labour in BRIGHTON (25-29 September) and the Conservatives also in BLACKPOOL (3-6 October).

Southern Trains has announced that it will be introducing a new limited stop through rail service between BRIGHTON and Ashford International from 11 December. This will put the piers at HASTINGS, EASTBOURNE and BRIGHTON within easy reach of Eurostar travellers, who can already reach DEAL by alighting at Ashford. There will be specially reduced fares on the new services for a limited period.

However… had you been inclined to take a train trip to a pier over the weekend of 1 & 2 October, you might well have ended up on a bus! An examination of Network Rail’s engineering schedules for that weekend showed that getting to BOGNOR REGIS, BOURNEMOUTH (or BOSCOMBE), EASTBOURNE, FALMOUTH, HASTINGS, HYTHE (via Southampton), LLANDUDNO, LOWESTOFT x 2, MUMBLES (via Swansea), SKEGNESS, SOUTHEND and SOUTHPORT would all have involved delays and diversions. And that’s without accounting for Leaves On The Line!

For the first time CROMER will stage a Christmas edition of its popular Seaside Special summer show in the Pier Pavilion. It stars comedian Tim Pope, with Lainie Baird and the Seaside Special dancers. The show will run twice daily (times vary) from 17 December – 6 January. No performances on Christmas Day or New Year’s Day. Box Office telephone 01263 512495 or visit www.thecromerpier.com. The theatre’s roof still leaks from time to time!

In sharp contrast, just down the coast the WELLINGTON pier theatre at GREAT YARMOUTH has been virtually demolished, after efforts to save it as a theatre failed. The fly tower and stage area have disappeared and the auditorium has been stripped to its frame, leaving just the entrance towers intact. The building is to become a “family entertainment centre”.

WORTHING Theatres have announced that their Pier Pavilion is to show films starting in January 2006. This is believed to be the first time that the 80 year old theatre has been used in this way – conversion work is currently in hand – making it the only pier-based cinema in the country. A spokeswoman for Worthing Theatres said that the scheme was intended to fill the gap caused by the lengthy closure of the neighbouring Dome cinema for Lottery-funded refurbishment, and that films would not supplant live theatre. It has to be noted, however, that the Connaught Theatre, once a thriving full-time repertory theatre in the town, now operates largely as a two-screen cinema.

MEDIAWATCH
Compiled by ANTHONY WILLS

Melvyn Bragg visited EASTBOURNE pier to present Part 3 of The Story Of ITV, broadcast on ITV1 on 17 July. This edition traced the network’s contribution to variety and light entertainment since the start of commercial television in 1955.

Weathergirl Becky Mantin reported from BLACKPOOL as part of a British Isles tour for ITV1’s This Morning on 19 and 23 July.

London’s Evening Standard reported the opening on 22 July of a 146 metre extension to the privately run Cadogan pier beside the Albert Bridge. The extension will provide 15 to 20 extra recreational moorings for boats. Cadogan pier is already one of four stops for the Riverbus shuttle from Chelsea Harbour to Blackfriars.

Ghosts Of The Coast was the title of a two-page pictorial spread in the Mail On Sunday on 31 July, offering contrasting ancient and modern shots of various resorts including BLACKPOOL and GREAT YARMOUTH, by way of introducing the new English Heritage publication Seaside Holidays In The Past by Allan Brodie, Andrew Sargent and Gary Winter.

Also on 31 July travel writer Alistair Fraser extolled the virtues of BRIGHTON in the Sunday Times’ feature My Kind Of Town. An exception, however, was the PALACE pier, which he dismissed as “tacky”.

BBC Radio 4’s Archive Hour on 13 August was devoted to the history of BRIGHTON WEST pier. Oh What A Lovely Pier, presented by entertainer and local resident Tony Lidlington (a member of the Pierrotters troupe), featured contributions from NPS President Gavin Henderson and historian Fred Gray, who is a member of our Executive Committee. It also contained some interesting archive material, including a clip from Alan Gale’s Old Tyme Music Hall staged in the Concert Hall in the mid-1960s (starring Bill Pertwee) and contributions from the late Bryan Spielman, former NPS President John Lloyd and even a telephone conversation from Sir John Betjeman.

On the same day (13 August) The Times ran a competition giving away copies of a new guidebook Tip-Top Beaches to the first ten correct answers received to the (very difficult) question: Where in the UK is the world’s longest pier?

BOGNOR’s Birdman Rally was reported in The Times of 22 August, with three pictures of competitors.
NPS Chairman Anthony Wills had a full page feature article entitled Pier Appreciation in the 18 August issue of The Stage newspaper, which also published his piece on its website. The Stage also used a fine image of BLACKPOOL NORTH to illustrate its annual listing of summer shows across the country, and had a history of pierrot entertainers in its issue of 29 September.

Our Chairman was also quoted in a three-page article in the German-language Frankfurter Rundschau of 27 August, featuring a report by Petra Mies on LLANDUDNO as Pier Of The Year 2005.

Mapping The Town on BBC Radio 4 (1 September) looked at the development of BOURNEMOUTH with a mention of the construction of the first pier there in 1861.

BLACKPOOL was the setting for BBC-1’s Songs of Praise broadcast on 4 September and introduced by Aled Jones, who interviewed NPS member Kenneth Shenton on NORTH pier about the history of the town and its three piers. Four days later BBC-1 began a six-part series called Hotel On Sea charting the fortunes of the rather down-at-heel President Hotel on North Parade (including plenty of shots of NORTH pier). Martin Jarvis narrated in pitying tones, and the series – made by Tiger Aspect Productions - has caused great offence in the resort.

Still in BLACKPOOL, the cast of NORTH pier’s summer show Rockin’ With Laughter appeared on the Paul O’Grady Show on ITV-1 on 22 September.

Alan Coren and Christopher Matthew visited SOUTHEND pier as part of their Radio 4 series Freedom Pass, broadcast on 22 September.

A recent “talk time” poster campaign for the T-mobile phone company features shots of models on BRIGHTON PALACE pier.

(Thanks to Anthony Bennett, David Cheshire, Fred Gray, Tim Mickleburgh, Peter Sagar, Bob Wetton and Frances White for their contributions.) Frances White for their contributions.)