A guide to the U.K.’s best piers
Go back a few decades, and exciting holidays in Britain almost certainly meant a day out at the seaside. With no affordable flights off here and there abroad, places like Scarborough, Blackpool and Torquay were THE place to set up your deck chairs on the beach, ride a pony on the sand and spend your entire life savings in the arcades (might as well have fun with your money, right?). Plus of course, it was always fun to take a bit of a stroll along a pier – broad views of the coastline, spotting seagulls and mackereland hearing the distant din of the seaside revellers was a romantic way to while away a few hours on your holiday. And that’s not just something reserved for back then – because you will still find piers at the majority of UK seaside resorts today. Some are in a better condition than others, but all of them contain the glamorous heritage of the British coast’s back-in-the-days glory. And here is a guide to some of the best of them:
Brighton
My little bro lives down in Brighton, and so it’s always the first place I think of when someone says ‘PIER’! (Not that that happens much, but, y’know…) Brighton is a big favourite with many, being awesomely tolerant (the first place in my life I discovered what a nudist beach was!), pretty (check out the lanes for some quirky little shops), vibrant (it’s got all kinds of interesting people and stuff going on), and with its fair share of decent weather too. Brighton pier was built at the turn of the last century but is still moving with the times today: with a 125ft Super Booster ride, a ghost train, amusements and restaurant it has entertainment to keep the whole family happy. And plenty of seagulls to try and steal your chips!
Blackpool
The North’s number one seaside holiday spot, true to form, boasts not one but three piers – and if you’re looking for fun then Central Pier has to be the one to go to. With its iconic ferris wheel, the famous ‘Legends’ show and other rides to keep spirits up when the weather isn’t to everyone’s liking, there’s lots of excitement to keep you occupied. If you fancy a trip to the Lancashire pleasure capital, have a look at the site UK Breakaways who run regular trips and you can see the pier for yourself.
Southend
Thought to be the longest pier in the world (seriously, it has a train that runs down it because the walk is just a bit on the tiring side!) the pier which protrudes from Southend-on-Sea into the Thames Estuary is famous for it’s inclusion in Douglas Adams’ classic novel The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (perhaps where he coined the phrase ‘so long, and thanks for all the fish’?). The poet laureate Sir John Betjeman also said of the structure: ‘the pier is Southend, Southend is the pier’, demonstrating how much the Grade II listed building meant to the town and still does. And it has Adventure Island at the end too – so you can rest your legs after all that walking by sitting on a chair underneath a poorly turtle (albeit a wildly swinging, high velocity chair) or go for a bit of a whizz around a rollercoaster!
Clevedon
The 140 year old pier at Clevedon in Somerset exudes charm and is very fitting given the quaintness-in-a-Victorian-ey way of the town in general. Take a peek out of it’s Grade I listed building and get some great views onto the Severn Estuary.
Southport
Southport Pier’s 2002 refurbishment soon earned it the coveted Pier of the Year Award given by the National Piers Society. The second longest in the UK (in fact to be specific, it’s 1000 metres long) it has taken a leaf out of Southend’s book and has a tram track running right from one end (the AAARRRGGG I’M IN THE SEA end), and connecting it to the town centre, a cafeteria and some traditional amusements at the other.
Ryde
The Pier in Ryde on the Isle of Wight celebrated it’s 200th anniversary in 2014 and is Britain’s oldest pier. If the strolling along piers for the romanticism of it all thing is what you’re after, then this is the one to come to – It retains its popularity for it’s old fashioned charm and views of Ryde’s Georgian Terraces and English Channel. Grab a delicious Isle-of-Wight-made ice cream (you can get an awesome gingerbread flavoured one!) from one of the many ice cream parlours dotted around in the town, stick on your sunhat and get promenading! Or pier-ing?
Cromer
And finally, Cromer’s Pier may not be the longest, but it does have some interesting quirks. The pavilion at the end of the pier hosts the ‘End of the Pier Show’; a boast which can no longer be made by any other pier in Europe, no matter how long it is…
And if you get bored of being stuck out on some planks in the sea, then you can give the local Cromer crab a try – there are plenty of lovely little restaurants and cafe’s where you can get it freshly caught and preparared. Or grab a crab line, and have a go at catching your own!
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