benjamin1945 16,160 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 I SEE on the news this morning some of our lovely seaside 'piers' are up for sale,i'm not sure if they are unique to 'Britain' but over the years ive visited very many and find them fascinating pieces of history,some of my favourites have been,Cromer,Redcar,Brighton and Llandudno. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Commo 1,292 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Which one are you buying then Benjamin? Skeggy pier was always a wondrous exotic place to me when a kid, but that was probably because we didn't get out much! 4 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
sue B 48 1,226 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Cromer being my favourite many happy hours spent on the pier crabbing with our grandson. Plus the shows and ice-cream. They would become to commercialised if sold, or am I just getting old. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MargieH 7,600 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 We're going to Skeggie the week after next - Butlins (OK I know that's strictly Ingoldmells) so will have a little walk on the little pier. Must get my 2ps saved up for the 'penny falls' 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Cliff Ton 10,467 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Margate in the mid-60s. Llandudno a few years ago. 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bubblewrap 3,815 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Didn't Clacton pier have a big dipper on it in the late 60s ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 I remember going to Skeggy Pier late 50s when we went to the childrens home in Skeg for 3 weeks every year. More like Borstal. On the pier was a cinema & I remember the film was The King & I, starring Yul Bryner. I was absolutely bored to tears & spent the whole time looking at the waves crashing under the pier through the cracks in the floorboards. To this day I detest musical films ! If I remember correctly Skeggy pier blew down in a storm ? 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,160 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Did the walk along Southend pier' a few years ago,remember when it was in the closing shots of 'Minder' with 'Arfur and Terry' ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Karlton 582 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 We're going to Skeggie the week after next - Butlins (OK I know that's strictly Ingoldmells) so will have a little walk on the little pier. Must get my 2ps saved up for the 'penny falls' Enjoy Marg don't forget Eptons fish an chips down chip alley, highly reccomend em. lol. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TBI 2,351 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Did the walk along Southend pier' a few years ago,remember when it was in the closing shots of 'Minder' with 'Arfur and Terry' ? Sarfend being the Londoners' Skeggy of course. I can't ever remember going to the seaside where there wasn't a decent pier, apart from Scarborough. We always went to the end-of-pier shows too, I can remember everyone howling at Tommy Cooper. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
catfan 14,793 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Epton's, Skeggies first fish & chip shop ! 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
katyjay 5,091 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Saw Tommy Cooper in Torquay 1970, not sure if it was on the pier. Does Torquay have one, I forget? I do remember we laughed so hard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TBI 2,351 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Yes katyjay, We visit Torquay very often and does have a pier but it's just a walkway, nice for a stroll but there's nothing on it at all. The Princess Theatre is just opposite the pier and on it's opening night in 1961, top of the bill was...... Tommy Cooper. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
MargieH 7,600 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 #6 Bubblewrap, talking of Clacton, I THINK there was an Orca on the pier in the 70s - poor thing was in quite a small pool. I don't think my memory's playing tricks..... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
benjamin1945 16,160 Posted March 14, 2015 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 #10 TBI I'M sure i read somewhere there used to be a' Pier' on Scarboroughs north shore,and was washed away in a storm many years ago. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TBI 2,351 Posted March 14, 2015 Report Share Posted March 14, 2015 Yes benjamin, it seems there was one built in the 19th century and destroyed in 1905. Bit before my time lol 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Compo 10,328 Posted March 15, 2015 Report Share Posted March 15, 2015 I used to love going on teh train up Southend pier. Had some friendds who lived there so spent much time in the town. At 1.33 miles long it was said to be the longest in the world. Back in late 1968 I went up Southend peir with my girlfriend. Half way up we chanced upon a former girlfriend who stopped to chat. Needless to say, this didn't go down very well and in teh end one went up the pier, one went down and I was stranded in the middle - worra day! 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 859 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 If I remember correctly Skeggy pier blew down in a storm ? It certainly did, January 1978, the same storm wrecked Hunstanton and Herne Bay piers, blew in some of the canopies at Midland Station while I was standing underneath them and took off large bits of my roof back home in Witham. Skeggy Pier after the storm. The current truncated Skeggy Pier. 2 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Compo 10,328 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Is the end piece (pier head) still standing? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 859 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 I used to love going on teh train up Southend pier. Had some friendds who lived there so spent much time in the town. At 1.33 miles long it was said to be the longest in the world. Southend Pier is always catching fire, the most memorable time was the day after I first visited it in June 1976, bit of a coincidence. This is one of the trains that were used up until that date, we were probably some of the last people to catch one:- The pier is constantly being updated, these are the new trains:- And a current view of the pier as it is now:- What is a worry to everyone is that over towards the Isle of Grain, that you can see on the other side of the Thames, is the wreck of the SS Richard Montgomery, a wartime Liberty ship sunk in 1944 and still carrying several thousand tons of high explosives which get more unstable with the passage of time. If it went up the results of the explosion would be quite catastrophic to the area. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 859 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Is the end piece (pier head) still standing? No, even that caught fire during demolition. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 859 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Didn't Clacton pier have a big dipper on it in the late 60s ? It still does and has everything else including the kitchen sink:- The Helter Skelter got blown over during the big storms a year last Xmas, it's back up, hopefully with some bigger holding down bolts this time. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 859 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Cromer being my favourite many happy hours spent on the pier crabbing with our grandson. Plus the shows and ice-cream. They would become to commercialised if sold, or am I just getting old. Cromer is my favourite pier, we go there a lot. It's kept in immaculate condition and still has the 'End of the Pier' show, a decent bar and cafe and is probably being painted up for the new season as I write this, no chance of that being sold off for commercial gain:- In the 90's a terrific storm blew a loose barge into it taking out the middle section, the lifeboat station was stranded as the crews couldn't get out there, so a reserve lifeboat was positioned on the beach slipway until the pier was repaired, very quickly and in matching style. One of life's pleasures is to buy a crab sandwich, some whelks and cockles from the towns famous seafood shop, reinforce these with some of those lovely dripping cooked chips from the chipoil down the road then sit on the end of the pier with a pint of Woodforde's from the bar watching the world ( and the crab line dippers) go by. 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Blondie 1,392 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Spent many a happy hour on Skegness Pier when I was younger.........Met a fab Geordie bloke there when I was 14, in August 1960, my dad got wind of it, followed me and scared him off, made me gone on a trip to Sledmere Church ( he was a spoil sport)..........Had many a happy time on Yarmouth Pier in my teens and I seem to remember there was one at Blackpool, or am I wrong ?..............The good old days, hey, hey........ 1 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
firbeck 859 Posted March 16, 2015 Report Share Posted March 16, 2015 Running around the East Anglian coast from Clacton, as it's my happy hunting ground, the next one along from Clacton is Walton on the Naze. This pier has a wacking great enclosed amusement arcade at the entrance, then the original structure heads out to sea, used originally for the pleasure steamers that plied the Thames Estuary:- Next along is Harwich, not strictly a seaside pier, more of a quay, but has some quaint buildings at the entrance:- Across the Stour estuary at Shotley is a pier currently for sale, this was used for the naval cadets at HMS Ganges, it's derelict but all yours for £195,000:- Here it is in it's heyday:- 3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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