Piers (the structures, not the people) are back in the news this week, with the announcement that Blackpool North, the oldest of the Lancashire town’s three pleasure piers, is for sale. Dating to 1863, it is, since the demise of Brighton West in East Sussex, the oldest surviving and best-preserved pier designed by the Victorian engineer Eugenius Birch, with a spidery cast and wrought-iron substructure and attractive minaret-roofed kiosks.
The owners said they intend to focus on their wider portfolio of local properties, including the Blackpool Central and South Piers. Both date back to the 19th century, but have undergone much modernisation and are not listed. ‘Given the competitive nature of today’s leisure market, I wonder if a suitable buyer will be found?’ asks Tim Mickleburgh, honorary vice-president of the National Piers Society. ‘The North Pier has already lost its railway and I would hate the whole pier to be altered so that it bears little resemblance to Birch’s original masterpiece.’
Blackpool North’s Art Deco theatre, one of few remaining operational pier theatres, is on the Theatres Trust’s At Risk Register. Tim considers that ‘it would make sense’ to upgrade its listing from Grade II to II*, a status enjoyed by other historic piers such as Saltburn in North Yorkshire and Eastbourne in East Sussex.
Garth Pier is the second longest pier in Wales.
But that's not all. Garth Pier in Bangor, a former winner of the (deep breath) National Piers Society’s Pier of the Year competition, is in need of £40,000 for repairs. A group of locals, Friends of Garth Pier (FGP), has set up a campaign asking for donations.
Garth Pier in Bangor was built in 1896 and extends to some 450 metres, making it the second-longest pier in Wales. It boasts views over the Menai Strait, Anglesey, Llandudno and Eryri (Snowdonia). When it was announced that Garth Pier won Pier of the Year back in 2022, judges commented that it ‘boasts the pest panorama of views of any pier in the UK’.
However, like many other piers, it is trying its best to fall down. Garth was bought by Bangor council for the princely sum of 1p in 1975, and a £1 million restoration was completed in 2022. The council has spent £2.2 million on the substructure, which holds the pier up, and the Friends of Garth Pier group says the £40,000 is the last piece of the puzzle, with donations matched by the council.
‘The climate is changing, the environment isn't favourable to a structure like this so the plan is that we strengthen the structure underneath the platform,’ Medwyn Hughes, mayor of Bangor, told the BBC on a stormy day last week. ‘A day like today is about showing that we need the money to do that. We've completed three quarters of the work, this is the last quarter to make it safe for the next 25 years.’
-
Take over the world or throw a great big party on this private fort for sale in PembrokeThorne Island, dubbed the British Alcatraz, has been a £2 million labour of love. Now it could be yours.
-
Sophia Money-Coutts: Can my dog sit with me at the table when I’m eating out?'Admittedly, I did once offer Dennis a small piece of truffled arancini in a Mayfair restaurant, but I felt it was important that he try his first truffle.'
-
Sophia Money-Coutts: Can my dog sit with me at the table when I’m eating out?
'Admittedly, I did once offer Dennis a small piece of truffled arancini in a Mayfair restaurant, but I felt it was important that he try his first truffle.'
-
A hoover for goose droppings, a tree-planting battle with the Hilton, and a disgusting banana: Inside Buckingham Palace and its gardensThe summer tours of The King’s residence this year include two new state rooms and a peep inside his private gardens.
-
What everyone is talking about this week: Would you swim in the River Thames?Week in, week out, Will Hosie rounds up the hottest topics on everyone's lips, in London and beyond.
-
'I really believe they increase productivity': If you want to get ahead, bring your dog to the officeEnhancing employee morale and increasing productivity is no longer reliant on outdated management techniques. The solution is simple, and on four legs.
-
‘She’s absolutely everything to me. She’s my future, my hope, my light’: How Labrador retrievers went from catching fish to saving livesAs International Assistance Dog Awareness Week comes to an end, we celebrate the Labrador retriever, one of the most cherished and versatile dog breeds.
-
Reading al fresco: The best places in London to get lost in the written word, according to the Country Life teamIn London, north, east, south and west, there's a public place suitable for all performative acts of reading.
-
Marsh Harriers: The wetland-loving bird that defied the odds to reconquer British skiesMark Cocker's first ever sighting of the bird was at Minsmere, Suffolk, in 1976 — and he's never forgotten it.
-
Louis Wain: The Edwardian artist who was 'perhaps the best PR cats have ever had'The artist's fascination with cats is the subject of a show at Chris Beetles Gallery which will feature 25 previously unseen works by Wain.
