Tears for piers
I was very sad to see Weston-super-Mare's Grand Pier going up in flames this morning. We were there in April and it was lovely. Just goes to show you how fragile these things are, they disappear so easily and never seem to get the protection they deserve.
On our seaside jaunts I've come to love the first glimpse of a new pier. Long, short, sparkly, tatty, classy, tacky. They all serve the same function but are so different. Southport and Great Yarmouth are bold and brassy.
Llandudno and Cromer are more genteel.
Southwold, with Tim Hunkin's Under The Pier Show is good enough for the Prime Minister, but too middle class for me. Cleethorpes' is stubby and Burnham-on-Sea's, the shortest in the UK, is barely there at all.
Fans of the nation's pierage can join like-minded souls in the National Piers Society, founded in 1979 by John Betjeman and the Piers of Britain Flickr group.
Comments
Wow, it was really sad to watch the BBC video of the pier going up in flames. So much history and a piece of maritime heritage lost.
Like the Browns, our family spent part of our summer holiday in Southwold as we do every year.
http://tinyurl.com/627n4w and http://tinyurl.com/628k7v)
We love visiting the pier and taking in everything from Hunkins whimsical "art" to the arcade. Being American, I'm not sure I recognized the middle class character of it all, but in the end maybe that's the appeal.
Love your work here!
Posted by: Peter A. Mello | July 28, 2008 10:18 PM
it was a terrible thing to wake up to - i got all teary.
ta for all the others
x
Posted by: ally | July 29, 2008 08:02 PM
I was down on the beach just after 8 taking photos of it. There's a set here on my flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/crunchcandy/sets/72157606412475446/
Posted by: Camilla | July 30, 2008 05:23 PM
Weston's pier in all it's glory.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive/aerialjourneys/5319.shtml?all=1&id=5319
Wasn't Britain a grander place with Mr Betjeman living in it ?
DW x
Posted by: Daniel Weir | August 12, 2008 05:23 PM