Based in Brockenhurst

Rhinefield Probus Report – February 2015 Meeting

The present state and plight of the fifty eight surviving piers in the UK was the subject of the talk at the February Meeting of The Rhinefield Probus Club held at The Forest Park Hotel in Brockenhurst. Mr Tony Wills, Media Officer of The National Piers Society gave a talk entitled “Piers of the Realm”.

To most of us the seaside pier is an integral part of our heritage and one to be enjoyed with our children and grandchildren who love the thrill of walking over water, enjoying the entertainments and watching the fishermen  standing for hours hoping for a catch – usually it seems, unsuccessfully !  Some piers have thriving theatres and art galleries on them as part of the attraction.

It was therefore a very big surprise and a disappointment to find that many of the surviving piers are not covered as Listed Buildings and can be allowed to deteriorate until they fall into the sea or until some benefactor comes along to rescue them. This deterioration arises as the cost of maintaining the piers is generally not matched by the income from visitors or the owners of the pier based entertainment –much of which is seasonal.

The loss of piers is very substantial.   Initially used as embarkation points around our shores, there was a great demand in Victorian times and the engineers and entrepreneurs of the day had created about a hundred by the early 1900’s.

The building of these piers also became a matter of civic pride and a must have for the large seaside towns often building two or more as in Brighton, Blackpool and Southsea.

At present only 58 of these are listed as surviving – some of which are in grave danger of being lost as collapse threatens due to neglect and winter storms. Brighton for example had three piers of which only one survives.

There are however some glimmers of hope sometimes in the form of Lottery Grants which often amount to millions of pounds as renovation work on these old structures can be extremely expensive.

The National Piers Society, founded by Sir John Betjemin,  is at the forefront of the protection of these national treasures and is actively supporting owners in protecting and renovating the great structures.

Bob Coombs gave a vote of thanks to Mr Wills for a most interesting talk and slide presentation.

Earlier Press Releases CLICK HERE