This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/magazine/6527705.stm
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Pier-ing into the future | Pier-ing into the future |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine Many of them are falling or have fallen down, but a competition is on to find a new generation of piers to help save the British seaside. | By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine Many of them are falling or have fallen down, but a competition is on to find a new generation of piers to help save the British seaside. |
| To some, piers conjure images of comedians down on their luck, a tourism industry steam-rollered by cheap flights to Malaga, and chunks of rusty wrought iron plopping mournfully into the sea. | To some, piers conjure images of comedians down on their luck, a tourism industry steam-rollered by cheap flights to Malaga, and chunks of rusty wrought iron plopping mournfully into the sea. |
| But piers have a future, if the British Urban Regeneration Association (Bura) is to be believed. It is running a competition for architects, planners and the general public to find designs for 21st Century piers. | But piers have a future, if the British Urban Regeneration Association (Bura) is to be believed. It is running a competition for architects, planners and the general public to find designs for 21st Century piers. |
| Piers are all about perspective. Take a stroll out along the boards on a fine summer's day, with the sea breeze in your nostrils, and turn around. Even the most depressed seaside town looks a little better. | Piers are all about perspective. Take a stroll out along the boards on a fine summer's day, with the sea breeze in your nostrils, and turn around. Even the most depressed seaside town looks a little better. |
| Southwold - so sophisticated it warrants a black and white photo"In a pier you are walking over the water. It is like going on a ship but you don't feel seasick," says Martin Easdown, archivist of the National Piers Association. | Southwold - so sophisticated it warrants a black and white photo"In a pier you are walking over the water. It is like going on a ship but you don't feel seasick," says Martin Easdown, archivist of the National Piers Association. |
| "For the Victorians, the air was meant to be better for you the further out to sea you went." | "For the Victorians, the air was meant to be better for you the further out to sea you went." |
| The first piers were stone, built as landing stages where a natural harbour could not be found, or where the water at the shore was too shallow. Come the industrial revolution they were made of iron and it wasn't long before Britons realised the pleasures of promenading up and down these platforms. | The first piers were stone, built as landing stages where a natural harbour could not be found, or where the water at the shore was too shallow. Come the industrial revolution they were made of iron and it wasn't long before Britons realised the pleasures of promenading up and down these platforms. |
| As the 19th Century wore on, so came the pier built purely for pleasure. Brighton's West Pier was the classic example. Built in 1866 by the master of pier design, Eugenius Birch, it initially cost sixpence to promenade, a sum comparable to £15-£30 today. It was a pastime for the select few. | As the 19th Century wore on, so came the pier built purely for pleasure. Brighton's West Pier was the classic example. Built in 1866 by the master of pier design, Eugenius Birch, it initially cost sixpence to promenade, a sum comparable to £15-£30 today. It was a pastime for the select few. |
| FIVE PRESERVED PIERS RydeBrighton PalaceClevedonBlackpool NorthBangor | FIVE PRESERVED PIERS RydeBrighton PalaceClevedonBlackpool NorthBangor |
| But in the first half of the 20th Century, the pier became a diversion for the masses, packed with amusements. Following the trend, by 1916, the West Pier had acquired a pavilion and concert hall. | But in the first half of the 20th Century, the pier became a diversion for the masses, packed with amusements. Following the trend, by 1916, the West Pier had acquired a pavilion and concert hall. |
| But by the 1960s and 1970s, Mr Easdown rues, the tide of tourism had turned. Sunnier climes and the package holiday beckoned. Standing in the sea, whipped by merciless winds, piers fell into disrepair. | But by the 1960s and 1970s, Mr Easdown rues, the tide of tourism had turned. Sunnier climes and the package holiday beckoned. Standing in the sea, whipped by merciless winds, piers fell into disrepair. |
| By 1975, the West Pier was closed and since then as locals fought to save it, fire and storm have decided otherwise, sending much of the structure sliding into the sea in recent years and leaving a rusting skeleton unconnected to the shore. | By 1975, the West Pier was closed and since then as locals fought to save it, fire and storm have decided otherwise, sending much of the structure sliding into the sea in recent years and leaving a rusting skeleton unconnected to the shore. |
| But Mr Easdown insists it has "done piers a disservice. People think they are all in trouble, or derelict. But many of them still pay their way quite well". | But Mr Easdown insists it has "done piers a disservice. People think they are all in trouble, or derelict. But many of them still pay their way quite well". |
| href="/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/magazine_enl_1175779145/html/1.stm" onClick="window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/magazine_enl_1175779145/html/1.stm', '1175779244', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=404,left=312,top=100'); return false;">Clacton pier in its 1880 heyday href="javascript: void window.open('http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/pop_ups/07/magazine_enl_1175779145/html/1.stm', '1175779244', 'toolbar=0,scrollbars=0,location=0,statusbar=0,menubar=0,resizable=1,width=500,height=404,left=312,top=100');" >Enlarge Image That is what the BURA wants. Piers that pay way their way and uplift troubled seaside economies. One of its role models is away to the east in Southwold, in Suffolk, an upmarket resort that has effectively built a new, "posh" pier on the stump of an old one. It has a brasserie. | |
| In north Wales, in Colwyn Bay, there is an art gallery on the Victoria Pier, another pointer for potential pier developers. | In north Wales, in Colwyn Bay, there is an art gallery on the Victoria Pier, another pointer for potential pier developers. |
| Wherever there is a derelict or endangered pier there is almost always a group fighting for refurbishment or rebuilding. | Wherever there is a derelict or endangered pier there is almost always a group fighting for refurbishment or rebuilding. |
| There are major projects underway on piers in Gravesend, Deal, Greenwich, and Boscombe. In Southend, the country's longest pier has just been restored after a fire. In Brighton, the site of the West Pier is being used for a £20m observation tower, and the old pier's supporters still hope to rebuild. | There are major projects underway on piers in Gravesend, Deal, Greenwich, and Boscombe. In Southend, the country's longest pier has just been restored after a fire. In Brighton, the site of the West Pier is being used for a £20m observation tower, and the old pier's supporters still hope to rebuild. |
| It will be entirely privately-funded, says the West Pier Trust's general manager Rachel Clark. | It will be entirely privately-funded, says the West Pier Trust's general manager Rachel Clark. |
| "The West Pier was thought to be the finest ever built. It was unbelievably spectacular, it had an elegance and it meant an awful lot to people. It didn't change the way it looked after 1916. It was frozen in time." | "The West Pier was thought to be the finest ever built. It was unbelievably spectacular, it had an elegance and it meant an awful lot to people. It didn't change the way it looked after 1916. It was frozen in time." |
| FIVE LONGEST UK PIERS Southend: 2,158mSouthport: 1,107mWalton-on-the-Naze: 792mRyde: 703mLlandudno: 700m An exclusive hotel is one of the ideas being considered. But the issue of what to do with restored or new piers is a tricky one. | FIVE LONGEST UK PIERS Southend: 2,158mSouthport: 1,107mWalton-on-the-Naze: 792mRyde: 703mLlandudno: 700m An exclusive hotel is one of the ideas being considered. But the issue of what to do with restored or new piers is a tricky one. |
| Demand for housing has seen many historic buildings find a new lease of life in recent years. But unless the British glass industry masters quintuple glazing, who is going to want to stay on a pier in the deep mid-winter while the storms bash the structure. | Demand for housing has seen many historic buildings find a new lease of life in recent years. But unless the British glass industry masters quintuple glazing, who is going to want to stay on a pier in the deep mid-winter while the storms bash the structure. |
| "Not many people go on piers in January," Ms Clark adds wistfully. | "Not many people go on piers in January," Ms Clark adds wistfully. |
| The Architectural Heritage Fund, which helps fund conservation of buildings, is ready to listen to proposals from any pier preservation society in the country. But chief executive Ian Lush says plans must have a profit motive. | The Architectural Heritage Fund, which helps fund conservation of buildings, is ready to listen to proposals from any pier preservation society in the country. But chief executive Ian Lush says plans must have a profit motive. |
| "They have been part of the British seaside experience for more than a century and they can give a lot of character to a seaside resort. If there is a lot of a backlash against cheap flights and if people start to think about carbon neutrality, short breaks in British seaside towns will become fashionable again." | "They have been part of the British seaside experience for more than a century and they can give a lot of character to a seaside resort. If there is a lot of a backlash against cheap flights and if people start to think about carbon neutrality, short breaks in British seaside towns will become fashionable again." |
| Fancy living through this? The residential option still needs some thoughtBrighton's other pier, the Palace Pier, with anything up to four million visitors a year, as well as Blackpool's three piers, remain major attractions. Cromer and Eastbourne and their piers remain popular. Pier venues play host to the Cannons and Balls, and the Syd Littles. | Fancy living through this? The residential option still needs some thoughtBrighton's other pier, the Palace Pier, with anything up to four million visitors a year, as well as Blackpool's three piers, remain major attractions. Cromer and Eastbourne and their piers remain popular. Pier venues play host to the Cannons and Balls, and the Syd Littles. |
| One of the oldest surviving piers, Ryde in the Isle of Wight, even retains its original purpose, acting as dock for the ferry from Portsmouth and shuttling passengers down its length on a stretch of railway. | One of the oldest surviving piers, Ryde in the Isle of Wight, even retains its original purpose, acting as dock for the ferry from Portsmouth and shuttling passengers down its length on a stretch of railway. |
| But elsewhere, small groups are fighting for the return to splendour of their own little slices of Victoriana. | But elsewhere, small groups are fighting for the return to splendour of their own little slices of Victoriana. |
| Peter Revell will not stop until Herne Bay pier, in Kent, is restored. | Peter Revell will not stop until Herne Bay pier, in Kent, is restored. |
| "I live less than 100m from the sea. It is a bit of days gone by. There is just so much you can do on it. You can see the land from a totally different perspective." | "I live less than 100m from the sea. It is a bit of days gone by. There is just so much you can do on it. You can see the land from a totally different perspective." |
| Erica Smith is fighting to get Hastings pier, another of Birch's masterpieces, repaired and reopened. The Friends of Hastings Pier begin in earnest on Friday. | Erica Smith is fighting to get Hastings pier, another of Birch's masterpieces, repaired and reopened. The Friends of Hastings Pier begin in earnest on Friday. |
| "It's an important part of Hastings. If the first thing people see is a rotting pier it sends out the wrong message." | "It's an important part of Hastings. If the first thing people see is a rotting pier it sends out the wrong message." |
| And for the West Pier campaigners, they'll dream of a gleaming new pavilion tonight. With just one proviso. No arcade machines. | And for the West Pier campaigners, they'll dream of a gleaming new pavilion tonight. With just one proviso. No arcade machines. |
Send us your comments using the form below. | Send us your comments using the form below. |