Piers are a seaside attraction and many have burnt down or been damaged. I was in one of the last shows in the theatre at the end of Skegness Pier.
The show starred Lena Zavaroni and I won't forget the night one of my illusions went badly wrong, and exploded, burning my arm. I finished the act, came off stage, and fainted. The were introducing Lena and she refused to go onstage until the ambulance arrived.
Many happy hours have been spent on here playing horse racing or slots on a rainy day.
Skegness grew from a small fishing village into a Victorian watering-place within a few years of the coming of the railway. The Earl of Scarborough, the leading land-owner of the area, had helped bring the railway to Skegness in 1872. Four years later he helped form the Skegness Pier Company, with the intention of providing the town with a spacious promenade pier.
The Pier company offered a £ 50.00 premium for the best design for the proposed pier and they received forty-four entries from all over the country, from which six were selected for further consideration.
The design of Messrs. Clarke and Pickwell of Hull was eventually chosen, and Head Wrightson of Stockton were given the contract to build the Pier.
Work began in 1880, and on Whit-Saturday 4th June 1881, the pier was officially opened amid great ceremony by the then Duke of Edinburgh.
The pier had cost £ 20,840 to build: it was 1817 ft long with a deck width of 25ft. There were projecting bays along the pier at 120 ft intervals, four of them contained glass and wooden shelters, and there was continuous seating along the whole length. The pier entrance consisted of a large
Gothic type archway flanked by smaller kiosks in matching style. An impressive flight of eight steps led up from the promenade to the pier entrance.
The T-shaped pier head measured 222 ft by 122 ft and contained a saloon / concert hall which could seat 700 people. The pier's substructure was typical of the period, with screw piles and cast iron columns supporting
lattice girders of wrought iron. Comprehensive bracing secured ornate columns to a line of centre piles. Heavy wooden beams laid out on the top girders supported the decking, which was made of Jarrah wood.
Disaster nearly struck in 1895 when a small fire in the saloon was only contained by the quick thinking of the pier staff and holidaymakers.
Disaster did strike though on March 21st 1919 when the schooner ' Europa ' went through the Pier causing a 150 ft breach.
The pier-head theatre ( also known as the saloon or pavilion ) continued to be used for a wide variety of entertainments, with Jan Ramsden and his players being a firm favourite with the pier audience for many years. In
1953 East coast floods damaged the North-East corner of the pier-head and flooded the pier entrance, but no serious damage was sustained. In 1971, the pier entrance archway and shops ( which unbeknown to the pier company, were listed buildings ) were completely demolished and a large building housing shops, cafes and amusement arcades was built. At the same time the pierhead theatre was enlarged and the seating capacity was increased from 700 to over 1000.
On 11th January 1978, Skegness pier along with the piers at Margate, Herne Bay and Hunstanton, was irretrievably damaged by a northerly gale with high spring tides.
The pier-head theatre and Eastern shelters were left high and dry, surrounded by the wreckage of the remainder of the pier. The derelict theatre became the home for thousands of starlings and though it was designated as a listed building, it was considered a hazard for shipping and in October 1985 work began on dismantling it. Whilst this was taking place, the theatre caught fire and was completely gutted.
A £5m development plan to rebuild 100 metres of the pier incorporating a new pierhead has been completed and holiday-makers and residents alike can stroll down the pier and enjoy the wonderful views along the miles of beach. During the summer months, the deck also plays host to a variety of traditional seaside attractions such as Hook-A-Duck and children's Carousel, the Big Slide and Bungee Trampoline plus many others. read more