Brighton is a wonderful place, cosmopolitan, vibrant, bohemian, colourful, queer and a true 24-hour city of the new generation. But it's also a town with a rich and equally colourful history, part of that iconic history of the town surrounds the lovely West Pier, now little more than a ghost rising from the sea.
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| Photo Slbs / West Pier, Brighton / |
Later additions were the central windshield in 1890; the pavilion at the head in 1893, which was designed to seat 1,400 people and converted into a theatre in 1903; the concert hall in the centre in 1916, and the raised entrance at the shore end in 1932.
The pier was closed during the Second World War and was cut in two to prevent an enemy landing. When it reopened, the theatre was converted into an amusement arcade. Scenes in the very famous film 'Oh! What a Lovely War was shot on the West Pier, in which many local people had parts, although I wasn't one of them as it was released four months before I was born!
By 1970, the owners of the pier wanted to demolish part of the structure, however the pier was listed to protect it, yet years of disrepair and neglegt meant the pier head was too danagerous for the public to walk and thus sealed off. Five or so years later, the rest followed suit and completely closed. There have been many plans to redevelop and restore the old lady of Brighton over the years, it became the only Grade I listed pier in the country in 1982. Some basic restoration work had taken place, but two fires have ensured that there is nothing left to restore.
I've watched the pier from afar, walked on part of it when I was a little nipper and seen films about it. I've also watched flames dance over the little that was left and consign the once grand old lady of the sea to history and nothing but memories of a bygone era.
