Oh! No!

[byron]

I see the pier at Weston Super Mare is engulfed in flames and is now probably lost to us forever. Another pier gone /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Those of us old enough to remember when Marinas were few and far between will remember how all boats would carry a scaffold plank or two, these would be tied to our guard rails and hung over fenders thus allowing us to rest against walls and piers without damaging our boats. Personally I haven't used this pier except on the old 6 penny ferry from Bute Street (Tiger Bay) Cardiff. No doubt Bilgediver has used this too. Only available when the tides were right, it was a good trip out if you had a whole sixpenny bit to spend.

Never-the-less I mourn the loss of another part of our history. These piers are far too expensive to replace.

 

[Andrew_Fanner]

>>>
Never-the-less I mourn the loss of another part of our history. These piers are far too expensive to replace.
>>>
I mourn too, loved such things as a child, still do. I wonder why they are so expensive to replace, HSE? The Victorians managed with far simpler technology. Mind you, I could easily accept that return on investment may not suit current business models, after all, I'm not paying more that £1 or so to walk out on the pier. Mumbles used to be wonderfully rickety, spent quite some time there with a lass who fancied being SWMBO 25 years back. maybe that sort of thing is where the nostalgia comes from Byron.

Mind you, my usual child fave was Newhaven Breakwater, preferably if it was a bit lively. ABP have closed that off. I was once daft enough to got to the end of Hastings breakwater, which involved some careful use of a dinghy where there wer gaps. To this day I never found out why there were gaps, I just assumed some passing Luftwaffe crew unloaded on it, or to prevent it being used for invasion purposes.

 

[ebbtide]

"Those of us old enough will remember how all boats would carry a plank or two"

Still have a pair of 'rubbers' which live under the focsle berths and are invaluable when lying alongside at Bosham, Emsworth, Langstone or Beaulieu, to name but a few.

 

[Elessar]

Missed that news as I was away. I lived near Penarth (and raced sailboats there) - I remember taking the Waverly to Weston pier. And how much I loved Penarth pier. How on earth do they catch fire????

 

[PilotWolf]

Fond memories of Newhaven breakwater too as a child - first ever sea fishing trip there with Dad! Even after about 30 years remember the smell under the arches of stale urine, the sea 'woodlice', the cracked concrete, lugworm wrapped in newspaper and the sea breaking over the top!

Incidently it's not ABP that control Newhaven but a French company who's name escapes me. The beach apparently and therefore the breakwater seems owned by a company called Newhaven Port and Properties.

W.