Find the nearest Piers

Britannia pier is one of the two piers at Great Yarmouth. Positioned towards the northern end of the resort in the 1850s. The original wooden structure, designed by A W Morant, was a simple structure 700ft (212m) in length and approached through ornate wrought iron gates hung between two rather bland oblong buildings. The Britannia Pier was damaged by the ‘James & Jessie’ Schooner and a storm in 1868. these events resulted in a shorter pier. At the end of 1900 the original wooden pier was demolished. A new 810ft (245m) wood and steel pier was opened for public use in 1901. Over the years the pier has had many fires. The grand pavilion was to become the first victim, destroyed in a blaze only seven years after opening. A second pavilion was built, opening a year later in 1910, but this was again destroyed in a blaze in 1914. Within three months a third pavilion was built. The current day Pier offers all of the amusements that you would expect in a popular seaside town, including amusement arcades, restaurant, bars, funfair and theatre.

Brighton Palace Pier features in films like Sweeney Todd, Dr Who and Carry on at your convenience and is as much fun in real life as it is in the films! It was built in 1891 and opened in 1899 and was one of three in the area. It had a concert hall which housed great shows during WWII but in 1973 a storm sent a barge into the pier and the theatre was lost. Today this modern entertainment centre houses fairground rides, thrill and children’s rides and a huge amusement arcade. In 2003 a large fire caused damage but luckily most of it was unscathed.  The pier is now listed as a Grade II structure and brings Summer fun and entertainment to the hundreds of thousands of holiday makers who visit it every year! The pier is known for its rides and most visit at night when the whole structure is lit up and fun is in the air. The Booster stands 130 ft and rotates you 360 degrees accelerating to over 3.6G’s in 2.8 seconds! The Twist and the Galaxia rides spin at speeds that make your eyes ache. In the Summer you can cool down withan ice cream and a log flume ride with oceanic wave landings! What is great about the pier is that it has retained it is old worlde charm even though it has been thoroughly modernised with video games, shops, restaurants, bars and even a presence on social media in Facebook and Twitter to keep you abreast of all the news and events. Brighton Pier (1700ft/520m long) was opened in grand ceremony on May 20th 1899. Nowadays the Pier has amusements, theme park rides, restaurants and bars.

Paignton pier opened in June 1879 the pier was financed by Arthur Hyde Dendy, a local Paignton barrister and was designed by George Soudon Bridgman. Nowadays this is a pier for all ages from sitting in the sun people watching to fun rides and ammusements.

The original Swanage Pier was built between 1859 and 1860 for use primarily by the local stone quarrying industry, and included a tramway which ran the length of the pier and some way along the seafront. The old tracks can be seen to this day, inset into the seafront walkways.

Burnham pier in Burnham-On-Sea Pier is Britain’s shortest pier. It is really an Edwardian pavilion on concrete piles. One of the UK’s oldest illuminated seaside piers, built between 1911-1914.

Sandown Culver pier first 360 foot pier opened around 1879 and later extended to 875 feet in the late 1880’s along with a new pier-head pavilion. 1968 saw major redevelopment of the entire pier structure. The theatre no longer exists but the pier remains a popular seaside attraction with a restaurant, shops, kiosk’s, amusements, fishing and various pleasure cruises from the head landing stage.

Penarth Pier is one of the last remaining Victorian piers in Wales. The pier opened in February 1895 and the original structure was of cast iron with a timber deck. A wooden pavilion was added to the pier-head in 1907. In the 1920s the pier had enhancements of a reinforced concrete landing stage and an art deco pavilion. On August Bank Holiday Monday 1931 a fire destroyed the pier and the wooden pavilion was not replaced.

Southwold pier was built in 1900 and was 810 feet (250 m) with a T-shaped end. The pier end was practically destroyed by a gale in 1934, with the T-shaped end being swept away. A series of events during the Second World War and a further major storm in 1979 reduced the pier to approximately 100 feet (30 m). The pier was bought in 1987 and over a period of 15 years has been refurbished and even has a T-shaped pier end. The pier is still less than the originalone at 623 feet (190 m).

Cromer Pier is at the heart of the edwardian seaside resort of Cromer with its narrow roads and cliffs. Cropmer has had wooden piers since the 1400s and in the mid 1800s the pier was still just a short structure. In 1901 the pier was finally replaced with a more elegant structure.