Hastings Online Times on the Pier

http://hastingsonlinetimes.co.uk/hot-topics/home-ground/pier-works-under-way
Starting in the New Year and working from the shore outwards, the deck will be made safe by replacing corroded steelwork and damaged decking. When this major job is completed by around September, it will be possible to bring in personnel and machinery to tackle the demolition of the ravaged ballroom at the end of the pier…………………..
But the support structure in general is in good condition, which considering that the Victorian pier is 140 years old, is testimony to the quality of the original workmanship, Mr Spooner said.
In light of the pier’s history, fire-resistant materials will be used for the rebuilding. The pavilion at the land end, the only part of the old pier that will be retained, will be rebuilt as a restaurant and bar. In the central area a new visitor centre will be built including a display area where the families and friends can come together for celebrations. Local contractors are being used for the restoration project and once the pier reopens, more than 50 new jobs are set to be created.
Members of the public will be able to follow progress of the reconstruction project at an information centre which HPC plans to open in January in the nearby sea-front building over the old swimming pool………………….

Oh Happy Memories!

From Hastings & St Leonards Observer

VIDEO: First stage of pier restoration begins

http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/local/video-first-stage-of-pier-restoration-begins-1-5752257

A COLUMN supporting Hastings Pier has been replaced, marking the very first stage of the restoration of Hastings Pier.

David Spooner, project manager, Hastings Pier Charity, said: “During the past five years one column broke at a point below the beach level and collapsed.

“Because of its location this is a critical column and its replacement was essential.

“Controlled by the tides, the work had to be carried out before dawn last Thursday and Friday, when we had very low water, ensuring that work was stopped in time to get the plant and equipment away before the incoming sea cut off the access.

“Local specialist, South Coast Structures carried out the work which involved erecting the steel column (which is nearly six metres in height), bolting to the underside of the main trusses and clamping to the remains of the pile.

“This pile will have been one of the original screw piles installed by Eugenius Birch in 1869.

“We then had to concrete around the base of the column with a steel casing around it to form the abrasion protection.

“This column should now last for at least 50 years.

“There are two more columns near the promenade to replace which will be completed before the start of the main steelworks in January.

“Taking advantage of the same low tide, we also had the local soil investigation company, In Situ Site Investigation, carry out testing to help establish the ground conditions for where we have to install foundations for the new visitor centre.”……………………………..

We Are the News – Again!

Work begins on Hastings Pier renovation after years of neglect The Argus
These images mark the first time the press have been able to set foot onHastings Pier in three years and shows the scale of the project that lies ahead for the ...

The Argus

£13m pier restoration gathers pace Littlehampton Gazette
Officials from the Hastings Pier Charity, which is overseeing the rebuild, led cameras on a tour of the whole pier for the first time in more than three years.
Designed by Eugenius Birch, the pier was originally 910ft long. In the 20th century it hosted a mix of dancing, slot machines, rifle ranges, bowling alleys, bingo, ...

Pier restorers get ready for new year resurrection Yorkshire Post
Campaigners fighting to preserve Victorian pier in East Sussex almost destroyed by fire three years ago – are getting ready for “real” restoration work to begin.

News in brief Wiltshire Business
A column supporting Grade II-listed Hastings Pier in East Sussex has been replaced, marking the first stage of a restoration project costing more than £13 million ...

Video: £13m pier restoration gathers pace Belfast Telegraph
A column supporting Hastings Pier in East Sussex has been replaced, marking the first stage of a restoration project costing more than £13 million.

Pier shares deadline is extended BBC News
The majority of the £14m needed to restore the structure has come through the Heritage Lottery Fund but Hastings Pier Charity hopes a further £500,000 can be ...

BBC News In pictures: First phase of Hastings Pier restoration ...
Follow the link below for a look at the BBC's feature on the restoration of the pier. In pictures: First phase of Hastings Pier restoration. This entry was posted in ...www.hpcharity.co.uk/.../bbc-news-in-pictures-first-phase-of-h...

ITV: Restoration begins | Hastings Pier Charity
Connect with us · « BBC News In pictures: First phase of Hastings Pier restoration ... ITV cover the beginning of the restoration of the Pier. Click below to read the ...

Community Share Offer–Date extended!

Hastings Pier Charity is to extend their community share offer through to midnight, Saturday 5th April 2014, “we’ve already raised well over £170,000 and the huge majority of that is local investors and small sums, but we need around £500,000 to finish the building and put visitor attractions onto the pier,” said charity CEO, Simon Opie.

The building work began in August this year as just £200k of the target £500k is to complete the build; “the additional money is needed to fund what we want on the pier,” continued Opie, “ bar and brasserie, deckchair rental, children’s playground, a Heritage Centre, space for weddings and civil ceremonies , farmers’ market  - attractions that will bring locals and visitors alike to the new pier.” The charity has already raised £13.7m through the Heritage Lottery Fund and other sources.

Shares are available in minimum packages of £100 with a maximum investment of £20,000 and a tax advantage via the Enterprise Investment Scheme. The scheme has attracted great support locally and the charity is hoping that interest will continue and spread, “we’re very confident we’ll reach the target.” (Simon Opie)

The offer document and shares are available via http://www.microgenius.org.uk   – an organisation set up to facilitate community share offers online.

Paper applications are available via Hastings Tourist information Centre in the town or the White Rock Hotel opposite the pier.

You can get involved……………

Hastings Pier

Help restore the pier by investing in the Hastings Pier community shares scheme: http://www.microgenius.org.uk/project/hastings-pier-15

Decayed, damaged and fire-ravaged, Hastings Pier was rescued by the determination of local residents and is now entering a second golden age in full community ownership.

- See more at: http://locality.org.uk/our-work/assets/case-studies/hastings-pier/#sthash.KQRgEPjJ.6wfUV1EO.dpuf

Columns 127 & 258

On the 7th December it was planned to inspect column 127, which is current lying on the sea floor but the tidal surge affecting the East Coast meant that the low tide did not reach out as far as expected.

Also on the 7th December 2013 the installation of Column 258 which was started yesterday, continued.

Early one morning………….

Institusi early yesterday morning on the Cone Penetration Test rig, testing the ground conditions to see if a bigger rig can be used to reach down 20+m to find the strata or layers below the beach.

From that the project engineer will be able to calculate the size and depth needed for the new stronger columns that will be put in beneath the Visitor Centre.

Visible pier work starts in New Year – Hastings & St Leonards Observer

 

But see photo below!

• The Pier will be transformed into a hive of activity following the Christmas break.

• The site office is established, extensive surveys have been carried out, decking cleared, barnacles scraped.

• Work is starting from the shore end of the pier, so it will be some time before the ballroom is cleared.

• The Pier Hub, located at the White Rocks Baths building on the Front will be up and running from the New Year.

(For more details see H & St L. Observer, 29th November, in the News section.  Also new Newsletter out soon)

This morning’s installation of Column 258BR

They were there at 4am to catch the low tide!

December comes in, with tree and sunset

Barnacle scraping and net clearing

 

A great time was had by all, despite assorted cold hands and frozen feet, not to mention leaky boots – and the Project Engineer is grateful!

I always think of this at low tide

"O Mary, go and call the cattle home,
Across the sands of Dee";
The western wind was wild and dank with foam,
And all alone went she.
The western tide crept up along the sand,
The rolling mist came down and hid the land:
And never home came she.
"Oh! is it weed, or fish, or floating hair--
A tress of golden hair,
A drownèd maiden's hair
Above the nets at sea?

(Apologies to Charles Kingsley for truncated version)

Anchor Away!………

And safely anchored!

The Pier at Sunset–by Mike S.

Survey of different types of piers with reference to the process of reconstruction of Hastings Pier.

For the Record

Rough edit of footage taken on 24th September 2010 for Hastings Pier Trust during the last sanctioned visit to the pier with English Heritage. We were due to revisit the pier this week to take more

A Little bit of History

Thanks for heads up to Andre via Bea, and Ken Brooks via Peter.

Removing planks to discourage invaders prevent during World War II

 

Seaside defences, World War II

 

And this…….. Saturday 17th October 2009

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o465nmxWN9o

Please Note – Re “A Recipe for Disaster”

My reply, having failed to post (probably find it there a dozen times tomorrow!)

Exactly, an example of how not to do.  The rules are from the 1980's.  The post is meant to be ironic, note the title!

Memories are made of this!

A recipe for disaster?

Queen of the sea

Live webcam–link to this will be available soon

The derelict pier at Hastings is facing a bright new future.

Being charitable about it: the complex rules for community co-ops

Hastings Pier Charity has become the first registered charity to become an exempt charitable bencom. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

The derelict pier at Hastings is facing a bright new future. The community-led Hastings Pier Charity project has already raised £13.7m and is now in the throes of a community share issue to raise a final £500,000 to complete the renovation work.

It's a real achievement. But the Hastings Pier Charity has also done something less obvious but no less significant: it has also been the first registered charity to leave behind Charity Commission regulation and move to become an exempt charitable "bencom" (a society for the benefit of the community) registered under Industrial & Provident Societies (I&PS) legislation……………………………..
http://www.theguardian.com/social-enterprise-network/2013/nov/07/complex-rules-coops-to-charities

Hands on Heritage Conservation Day

Become part of the team that restores Hastings Pier.

Hastings Pier's Project Engineer needs a helping hand scraping the barnacles from columns under the pier on Saturday 23rd November!  Come and join in, it will be fun for all.  There are 25 spaces so there's no obligation to scrape all the barnacels off by yourself!  You'll need your wellies and waterproofs at the ready and we will provide the rest.  Your hard work will be rewarded with a hot drink and biscuits.  We have limited places so booking is essential.

Saturday 23rd November 8.30am - 12 noon.
For this activity you must be over 18.

To book a place or for more information contact:
email: volunteering@hpcharity.co.uk
Tel: 01424 435587

Grande Masque Ball

Masque Ball - this Friday at St Mary in the Castle – Tickets - £20 - profits go to the Hastings Pier Charity. http://www.ingridpittfestival.co.uk/

Volunteer for the Pier Day at White Rock Hotel

Some day, one day...

Well, what do you know!

Congratulations, Tim.  “Awash with colour, this photograph of Hastings Pier has been awarded ‘judges’ favourite’ in the BBC Countryfile annual photography competition.
The stunning image was taken by Tim Clifton, of Old Harrow Road, St Leonards, earlier this year.”
http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/local/a-stunning-sunset-1-5621438

Still Beautiful

Investing in Hastings Pier won't leave you at sea

Pictured above: Hastings Pier as it was, courtesy of Hastings Museum and Art Gallery

Tim Fordham-Moss, Wednesday, 16th October 2013
http://www.spearswms.com/spears-world/wealth-wednesday/50367/investing-in-hastings-pier-wonand39t-leave-youat-sea.thtml

Ever thought of buying something on the south coast? How about a pier? A proper, good, old-fashioned Victorian pier.

Perhaps Hastings Pier, designed and built in 1872 and currently undergoing a £13.9 million renovation programme following years of neglect by absent landlords and a devastating fire three years ago.

You can’t buy the whole thing, but you can become a shareholder in the company that will own the pier. The good people of Hastings have battled over many years to raise the renovation funds and are now £500,000 away, which will take the form of a community share issue, ensuring local involvement for the future.

Plans for the pier range from the obvious, such as a proper deckchair rental operation, through to a microbrewery (pier beer), a mirrored visitor pavilion with rooftop viewing deck, farmers’ markets, an outdoor cinema, performance spaces and Christmas fairs, all the way to interesting technical advances.

An app will turn any view on the pier seen through a mobile or tablet into an antique image, using archive photography from the heritage centre the pier will house. Another will reveal the steelwork beneath the planking. And a less high-tech innovation is the possible use of glass as a part of the decking to give that real walking on water experience.

From its opening in 1872 through to closure in 2006, Hastings Pier was the centre of tourism and entertainment for much of the south of England. Originally part of the Victorian seaside boom, it evolved with the times and became an icon of rock and pop music well into the 1970s. Hendrix, the Rolling Stones, Genesis and Pink Floyd all played the pier; the last time Syd Barrett played with the Floyd was on Hastings Pier.

Pictured above: Hastings Pier as it will be - if it gets enough investment

It’s a canny investment, as well as a generous one: Enterprise Investment Status (EIS) status should be awarded shortly so there are tax advantages in the investment, and the plans are to offer prudent interest returns as the pier develops through the share system.

The pier will ………….as a modern icon of art, culture, regeneration and the renewal of the English coastal tradition, with a 21st-century take on what the Victorians did for us.

A substantial shareholding in the pier will do a great deal of good for Hastings: the more attractive and cutting-edge the pier, the more visitors to the town, the longer they stay and the more money they will leave behind. After several bad years, this project allows Hastings to peer into a brighter future.

For more information, visit www.hpcharity.co.uk. Share purchase information is on www.microgenius.org.uk

We are the news!

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/hastings-residents-can-buy-100-2471011

Seaside residents are snapping up £100 shares in town's new pier

20 Oct 2013 00:00
Hastings' historic pier is undergoing a £14million restoration following the destruction of the structure in a fire in 2010

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/437792/Community-shares-bid-to-revamp-pier
Community shares bid to revamp pier
Plans to raise money to help renovate a Victorian seaside pier damaged by fire are receiving waves of interest.

Shares plan for Hastings Pier proving hugely popular (From The ...

Plans to raise money to help renovate a Victorian seaside pier damaged by fire are receiving waves of interest.
www.theargus.co.uk/.../10750771.Shares_plan_for_Hastings_...

How Hastings Pier could look after restoration | Meridian - ITV News

Read the latest Meridian stories, How Hastings Pier could look after restoration on ITV News, videos, stories and all the latest Meridian news.

www.itv.com/.../how-hastings-pier-could-look-after-restoratio...

Community shares bid to revamp pier - Belfast Telegraph

Plans to raise money to help renovate a Victorian seaside pier damaged by fire are ... Simon Opie, chief executive of Hastings Pier Charity, said: "A thriving pier ...

Wave of interest for bid to create people's pier - The Guardian

Three years after a major fire destroyed much of the Victorian structure, theHastings Pier Charity has registered as a Community Benefit Society and with ...

Community shares bid to revamp pier - ic Solihull.co.uk

Plans to raise money to help renovate a Victorian seaside pier damaged by fire ... pier in East Sussex, which was almost destroyed in a blaze three years ago.

Hastings Pier shares sales total more than £70k  BBC News

Hastings Pier Charity hopes a further £300,000 can be raised by selling 3,000 shares[sic] for £100 each. The charity said the money raised will be used as part of ...

More Work on the Pier than might Appear!

WITH rebuilding work to start over the coming months, reporter Hannah Collisson took a tour of Hastings Pier with project engineer Peter Wheeler to get a closer look. - http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/local/video-tour-of-hastings-pier-1-5585830

There may not be much activity obvious to the casual passer-by, but behind the scenes work is well underway, and there is a clear vision of the pier’s future.

A walkway has been constructed, making the length of the pier accessible for the first time since the devastating fire of 2010. This has made it possible for the team to better assess the condition of the structure, and also to carry out surveys including 3-D mapping using lasers.

Project engineer Peter Wheeler said: “It wasn’t until we flew a drone over the pier in August that we realised how bad the damage to the deck was, and it was quite a surprise. But in some ways the fire has actually done us a little bit of a favour because it’s cleared the structure and we can look underneath it now.

“One of the problems that we face is that there is a column that has collapsed underneath the parade extension, and that has got to be put back in situ so that the deck is able to take the weight of the machinery, which we need to start rebuilding the whole of the pier.

Mr Wheeler appealed to the public to heed warnings not to walk beneath the pier for their own safety, while work is ongoing.

“One of the ambitions is to take away the destroyed ballroom as quickly as possible, as it is an eyesore,” he added. “The best way of doing it is to build a new structure as we go, so we can get the machinery out there. We hope to be out there by about mid-February.”

The scale of the project becomes apparent walking out along the pier from the shore. Below our feet the majority of the deck is gone, and some of the metal structure underneath is buckled and twisted. A surviving wooden bench facing out to sea, and an unopened beer barrel suspended in the wreckage of the ballroom, are symbols of what was and what could be in the future.

Even among the destruction, it is impossible to ignore the potential for beauty, especially on a crisp autumn morning, with sunshine casting both the pier, and the coastline of Hastings and St Leonards, stretching away in the distance, in a flattering light.

Mr Wheeler said: “There is a lot of thought that has gone into what should happen with the pier. The concept is to make it a modern pier - the pier has been evolving over 150 years or so.”

From Eugenius Birch’s original structure of the 19th century, Hastings Pier has grown and changed over the decades, prompted by the various challenges it has faced; the original ballroom was destroyed in a fire in 1917, and during the Second World War, the middle section was removed to prevent the pier being used as a landing stage by the enemy.

The heritage of the Grade II listed pier is an important aspect of the renovation project.

Mr Wheeler said: “The original Birch pier is a fascinating structure. We are trying to preserve and record as much as possible, so that we have a real sense of history about the pier

In its new incarnation set to open to the public in 2015, Hastings Pier will initially offer a teaching restaurant, a modern visitors centre, and significantly, once the deck is repaired, a huge amount of open space - a “public park above the sea” - a flexible space in which the programme of events on which the future of the pier rests will take place.

The community hub at the White Rock Baths will be the go-to place for all pier-related information, once work gets underway, with films, talks and educational projects to engage the public. Webcams will also be tracking the progress of the rebuilding work.

BBC Drone filming the Pier

 

Students rise to film challenge

STUDENTS explored the past, present and future of the pier when they took on the challenge set by Hastings Pier Charity and the University of Brighton of making a heritage film.

Nine groups of Broadcast Media students from the University of Brighton in Hastings were given one of five heritage themes, along with a pack of archive materials and the opportunity to interview an expert.

They then had just a week to produce a three-minute film, as part of the competition funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, some of which will be made available for the general public to view in the new visitor centre or in Hastings Pier Charity’s community hub, to open in White Rock Baths.

The themes were: The Peerless Pier; The Victorians on Holiday; Hastings Pier’s musical heritage; Earth, Wind and Fire: The challenges that have faced Hastings Pier; and 21st Century Pier.

See the prize winning film, and more details at
http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/local/students-rise-to-film-challenge-1-5574666

Hastings Pier Share Offer – Closing Date

The closing date is the 4^th of January but it could be extended if the trustees decide to extend it.  There is a count down on the microgenius website currently 86 days left.

http://www.microgenius.org.uk/project/hastings-pier-15

There is still something growing!

Community Shares Information and Business Plan

 

Business Plan

Here you can either view or download the Outline Business Plan from Hastings Pier Charity.

To view online, just click on the image below, and the document will open in your browser (please be patient, as document may take some time to load).
To download the document, use the link below the image.

Download the Business Plan (PDF, 303kb)

To view our Community Share Offer – click here

To read the Society Rules – click here

Which heading do you prefer?

Community shares offered in derelict Hastings Pier BBC News

Shares in a derelict seaside pier that was almost destroyed by fire three years ago will be offered to the community to aid its restoration. Hastings Pier is being ...

 

Owning a piece of Hastings Pier - ITV News - ITV.com

Read Owning a piece of Hastings Pier latest on ITV News. All the Friday 4th October 2013 news.

www.itv.com/news/.../2013.../owning-a-piece-of-hastings-pier/

 

Thank you, ITV

Community shares scheme issue tomorrow (5th) on the anniversary of the fire

Hastings & St Leonards Observer, Friday, 4th October 2013, p. 9

Details at http://www.microgenius.org.uk/project/hastings-pier-15

For the record…….