Battering was not the end of the piers

August 04, 2004

The East Anglian coast has always been at the mercy of the sea. So it is little wonder that the piers built out over the waves have suffered from its harshness too. But as ANGI KENNEDY reports, not all the disasters to befall Norfolk and Suffolk piers were caused by stormy seas.

The 30m gap ripped in Cromer pier after it was hit by a runaway rig barge in November 1993.

The power of the North Sea has battered out an ever-changing coastline. The waves, especially when storm-fuelled and fierce, have the strength to lift away great chunks of cliff-face and hurl them on to the shore.

Witnessing such strength, who would ever risk building a structure out over the waves, a long, spindly finger prodding defiantly at the sea?

The answer lies in those indefatigable pier-builders whose triumphs of design have brought a different profile to our coastal resorts for more than a century.

Throughout that time though, the piers have fought their individual battles for survival against the sea and its storms, as well as against the ravages of fires, shipping accidents and wartime damage.

The Britannia Pier at Yarmouth has had to face most of these enemies in its time. But the most dramatic fight was in 1909, just seven years after the new pier had opened as the latest, sparkling jewel of the East Anglian coast.

Britannia Pier had been officially opened in the summer of 1902 by the wife of Lord Claud Hamilton, chairman of the Great Eastern Railway Company.

The 810ft long pier was a sight to be seen, with a bandstand, shelters and its Boulton and Paul-built Edwardian pavilion.

There had been a pier on the site before, shorter and far less ornate, but it had been demolished in 1900 to make way for the new attraction.
This new pier was going to help put Yarmouth into a great position to benefit from the growing popularity of seaside holidays, as pleasure steamers and railway companies brought more and more visitors to the area.

In the seven years that followed the opening of the new Britannia Pier, many thousands of people came to promenade along it and to enjoy entertainment in the pavilion.

It was a delightful addition to the town, which already boasted the Victorian Wellington Pier and the historic Jetty, which was first built in 1560 and became known as Nelson’s Jetty after the admiral landed there.

But on the morning of December 22 1909, Britannia Pier became the focus of the town’s attention for the worst of reasons.

It was around 9am on that dull and rainy morning when someone spotted smoke curling out of a row of shops on the southern side of the pavilion.

Within minutes the fire brigade arrived, but it soon became obvious that they did not have the equipment to deal with the gathering blaze.

The 30m gap ripped in Cromer pier after it was hit by a runaway rig barge in November 1993.

Although water was all around, they could not use their pumps to suck up the seawater for fear of jamming them with sand.

While they struggled to find a way round the situation, the flames were building in intensity. Little over half an hour after smoke had first been spotted, the southern side of the pavilion was wildly ablaze.

Thick, black smoke stretched as far north as Caister and sailors sent back reports of seeing the fire from as far as 20 miles out at sea.

Crowds rushed to the seafront to witness the devastation for themselves. The lifeboat was launched to rescue the pier manager and his son, but they had escaped the fire already.

The northern tower of the pavilion collapsed at 10am, and by 11am the fire – and the beautiful pier theatre – was over.

But the people of Yarmouth refused to accept that the days of the Britannia Pier were over.

It was rebuilt and would go on to become a favourite with generations of holidaymakers who went to Yarmouth for the summer shows, amusements and refreshments on the pier.

Britannia Pier has been damaged by fire at least four times since the catastrophic blaze of 1909, and twice it has been struck by ships. But it has overcome all that has been thrown at it during its 102-year history.
Cromer pier is another fine example of triumph over disaster, time after time.

The first documented pier was built at Cromer in 1391. In the centuries that followed, the sea claimed the structure several times but on each occasion it was rebuilt.

In 1822, a 210ft structure was built, only to be washed away 21 years later. Another, longer pier was built in 1845 and this lasted 52 years.
Then in 1901, a new 500ft pier was built with a bandstand at the end. This was extended further a few years later and that is the North Norfolk pier we know today.

But it has certainly not had an easy life. Early in the second world war, there were real fears that the east coast piers might be used by German invaders, and so many were blown into two sections.

This happened at Cromer in 1940. The sectioned structure was guarded by the military and the only access to the lifeboat station on the end of the pier was via a footbridge.

Many years later, in 1993, a storm-tossed rig barge was to do similar damage to the pier when it sliced through the structure on Remembrance Day night.

Storms also ripped at the pier causing damage in 1949, ’53 and ’76. But the damage has always been repaired and the pier reopened.

The end-of-the-pier shows put on at the Pavilion Theatre there have become a great tradition the past 25 years. But there was nearly disaster of a different kind for the pier’s entertainment in the 1970s.

In the early 1900s, the bandstand on the pier was extended to eventually form the Pavilion and for many years this venue hosted concert parties and shows featuring artists as diverse as Mademoiselle Vivienne, The Perfect Contortionist, and The Perfect Scamps.

But in the years following the second world war, the pier fell into a poor state. In other resorts like Yarmouth, the pier theatres were running seaside shows packed with the variety stars of the day like Morecambe and Wise, Danny La Rue, Des O’Connor and Mike and Bernie Winters.

Concert parties on the end of a tatty pier were not enough.

The district councillors resolved that Cromer pier would not die as a tourist attraction, and the answer came in the form of Richard Condon, the charismatic man who had achieved so much with the Theatre Royal in Norwich. He set about putting together a new end-of-the-pier show for Cromer and in 1978 it began, to a warm welcome.

Since then the pier has been renovated and is now a great asset to the town.

Down the coast at Lowestoft, the Claremont Pier and South Pier have seen their fair share of action too.

The Claremont was built in 1902/3 by the Coast Development Company. Ten years later, the pier head was extended with a T-shaped end and a pavilion was added later.

Once again, the war saw the Claremont being sectioned and a Bailey bridge link was created so that it could become an Army training area.
By 1948, it had deteriorated so much that the pier was well and truly abandoned. But two years later, the Claremont was rebuilt. Trouble yet again for the Claremont in ’62 when the end section was destroyed by storms.

The Lowestoft South Pier also had an interesting history. Built in 1846 by Lowestoft Railway and Harbour Company, at 440ft it also had a circular end.

The pier caught fire in 1885 but it was restored and a new pavilion was built in 1890.

By 1902 it had grown to 1300ft and in the first world war it became the headquarters for Navy minesweepers.

At Hunstanton, the pier has had its own rollercoaster of highs and lows in its 134-year history.

It was severely fire-damaged in 1939, but it was to see new life after the second world war as a roller-skating centre, complete with a miniature railway and zoo.

It exchanged hands in January 1978, the day before it was destroyed by a dreadful storm! The storm reduced the pier to nothing more than a 15ft concrete ledge jutting out of the seafront.

The amusement arcade which was built on the small remaining section was also ravaged by fire in May 2002, which led to a long-running controversy over the rebuilding of the amusements.

Another pier to have been sectioned in the second world war was at Southwold. Built in 1900 at 810ft, this pier had a T-shaped end added in 1934.

Not only was the pier blown in two in the war but it was also damaged by a sea mine and needed rebuilding in 1948 at a cost of £30,000.
But, of course, any structure which is so vulnerable to wind and waves is going to deteriorate. And Southwold Pier suffered badly.

But for this pier, hope and a future came in the form of businessman Chris Iredale and his wife Helen, who masterminded an almost £1m renovation scheme to bring Southwold Pier back to life.

In July 2001, the Duke of Gloucester officially opened the pier – the first such event in Britain in nearly 50 years.

Southwold’s success story shows that although the golden years of Britain’s piers have long gone, the piers that have survived their share of disasters, deterioration and decline can still live again, right at the heart of the British seaside.