News

There was a great article in Saturday’s Guardian about the Edwards family of Fedora Punch & Judy. Glyn and Katey organise and run our education programme at the Fishing Museum http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2013/jul/27/punch-judy-family-brighton

This is how the pier looked soon after its opening in 1866. A simple promenading pier with just 6 octagonal kiosks at intervals along its length. We have one of these original kiosks dismantled and stored and hope in due course to restore it as a small visitor centre. You can also see the distinctive ... Read more

There’s a piece on page 6 of the Argus today – an original architect’s design of the pier Concert Hall is on sale on eBay http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10566118.Original_West_Pier_design_drawing_goes_on_sale/ What a great addition to the Trust’s archive that would be!

There are still large original pier fragments available to buy – columns and lampposts mainly. You can arrange to view them at the pier by contacting us at info@westpier.co.uk . Bear in mind they’re made of cast iron and are very heavy!

This was taken in the early post WW2 period. Piers were considered an invasion risk during the war. They were closed to the public, mined and in the case of the West Pier a section was removed. It was partially reopened to the public in 1946, the  pier wasn’t fully functioning until 1948.

Martin St Martin sent us this beautiful photo taken earlier this year

Here’s a very early and unusual photo taken on the pier in the late 19th century. ‘Walking on Water’, the history of the pier by Fred Gray, contains the best selection of pier pictures https://www.westpier.co.uk/history/walking-on-water-by-fred-gray/

Did anyone see this great image in the Argus last month? Brighton based artist Ben Duarri, for the opening of the Dr Marten’s store, recreated the West Pier as a pair of DMs!  

Do you have any interesting or unusual photos of the pier? We’d love to see them. And if you have any taken before it closed in 1975, that would be especially exciting! Here’s one sent by Wendy Bond of her family outside the entrance in 1950  

So we are out of Facebook wilderness and you will now be seeing regular updates from us on our page, Official West Pier, Brighton! Apologies for radio silence  – but happy to be back.

Is the West Pier Brighton’s most photographed structure? In today’s Argus there were no less than two great images of it – on page 2 it provided the backdrop for a story about Southern Water staff’s pier to pier swim (over 1 km btw!) and on the letters page a beautiful atmospheric photo of the pier at sunset  by ... Read more

The two arson attacks that devastated the pier weeks before its full restoration was to begin, happened in March and May 2003. Ten years on, here is photo by Terry Busby of the first fire, 28th March 2003