Local composer Paul Lewis has been in touch. He has written an orchestral piece about the Concert Hall which will be performed on 9th November by Sussex Symphony Orchestra http://ssomusic.co.uk/events-3/concert-schedule/ Many members of his family were musicians and he writes:
The sad fate of the West Pier is very poignant for me since my mother and her sister, both musicians, played regularly in the restaurant/ballroom. They were playing there the day war broke out; the pier manager told them to pack up their instruments and go home as the War Office intended to cut a section out of the pier to prevent its use by the Germans as a landing stage. I have a glorious photo from that very day of my mother, Phyllis, and my Aunt Gladys in gypsy costume carrying their accordions along the pier
