Pier progress inspection by volunteers

Last raft of dates (for now)

1972. Gary Glitter appeared on the pier in 1972.

1972. -Hastings Pier celebrated its 100th birthday on August 5 1972.

1976: The Department of the Environment lists the pier as a building of special architectural and historical interest.  Awarded Grade II listed status

1978. For the year ended 31st March 1978 the Hastings Pier Company made a net profit of £9,761 – a reduction of £147 compared with the previous year.

1982: The pier celebrates its 110th birthday.

1982. The pier celebrated its 110th birthday - To celebrate the piers 110th birthday the Pub on the Pier sold ales, spirits, and fortified wines at the original 1872 prices.

1982. Over 1 million visitors were recorded

1983. Humberglow Ltd paid £196,000 to acquire the Hastings Pier Company. In the same year, storms caused £100,000 of damage.

1983. Peter Fisher took over the pier with Mr John Shrive. 185 stockholders were advised to take the £3.25 offer for each unit of stock because of the heavy maintenance costs.

1983. Severe storms damaged the pier. Winds whipped a dome from the top of the halfpenny arcade and it smashed down on another section, shattering a roof, destroying a suntrap and flattening iron railings.

1983 April - Hastings Pier was bought for £195,000 by two local amusements operators from the company that had owned it since it was built in 1872.

1985. A British light – middleweight boxing title fight took place on the pier.

1987 – Pier damaged in the 1987 storm

1993 – Storm causes £100,000 worth of damage

1996. The pier went on sale for £3.5 million in 1996.

1999. On Wednesday October 13 1999 the pier was closed down.

2000: The pier stands derelict until August when it is purchased by Mundial Invest S.A.

2001: Hastings Pier changes hands yet again. This time to Ravenclaw Investments Inc. Ravenclaw is a sister company of Mundial Invest S.A. Pier re-opened

2006. HBC closes main part of pier due to safety reasons

2006. The pier tenants struggled through October to keep their businesses going, but finally gave up on Halloween. The pier closed completely from 1 November 2006.

2006. , Hastings Council helped Stylus come to an agreed safety plan with Hastings Magistrates, and it reopened its part of the pier in July 2007. Stylus invested substantially in making its bingo club, bar and amusements attractive, which gave momentum to the public support for preserving the pier.

2008. The Hastings Pier and White Rock Trust (HPWRT) was officially registered on 1 February 2008

2008. 11 March, a gale damaged the seaward end of the pier, with two upright columns breaking away from their support. There were fears that this could be the ‘beginning of the end’ for the pier, and there was further minor damage over the following five months.

2008. The pier finally closed completely on Sunday 31 August 2008

2008. Heritage Lottery Fund for £2 million was turned down in early December

2009. Saturday 17 October the trust held a march from the pier to the town centre, with two thousand people taking part.

2010. Disaster struck Hastings Pier early in the morning of Tuesday 5 October 2010, when about 95% of the buildings and most of the decking were destroyed in a massive blaze.

2011. de Rijke Marsh Morgan are announced in January as the winners of the competition to select an architect for the redevelopment of Hastings Pier.

2011. - Saturday 12th March for the Party on the Prom held to celebrate Hastings Pier and to help plan for its future. Residents were given the chance to speak to the architects, dRMM, and say what they wanted the new structure to look like when it is rebuilt.

2012. Only one letter of objection to the compulsory purchase of Hastings Pier was received, the borough council says it's not someone from Hastings and more significantly it's not the current owner of the pier.   (May 2012)

2012. Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) awards a grant of £11.4 million

2013 – HPWRT (Hastings Pier & White Rock Trust) hand over to Hastings Pier Charity

2013. 30 Mar -Jo Brand Stands Up For Hasting's Pier - A Night of Stand Up Comedy from Bafta Award Winner Jo Brand, plus support from Angela Barnes, Quincy and Doon Mackichan

2014. Share offer closed 5th April, having raised over £590,000 (target £500,000)

2014. September – Jack Up Barge arrives to assist in dismantling the ballroom

Story of the pier at http://www.hastingschronicle.net/hastingsPier.html

Tea lights galore from the workshop

Dateline 1939+

1939: World War II the pier is requisitioned for training purposes. During the war enemy did damage to the pier by bombing.

1939. With the outbreak of World War II the pier was requisitioned for training purposes.

1940 May 22- Refugees from France and Belgium were landed on Hastings Pier by a Belgian tug.  Two men were carrying 13 million Belgian francs, the funds of the Belgian railway.

1943, During World War II a section was demolished to stop it being used as a landing platform by invading Germans.

1945: For reasons of defence, the pier is broken near the shore-end to prevent the Germans from using it as a landing stage.

1946: The pier is de-requisitioned and re-opened.

1946. The pier didn't make a profit but it soon recovered when the pre-war crowds came back.

1946. Despite some bomb damage the pier was re-opened

1940's. The Art Deco façade and minarets at the shoreward end were added

1951: A west view solarium and covered way is opened by the mayor

1951. The east side solarium was constructed.

1956: The east view solarium is opened.

1956. The west side solarium was constructed

1958. 1,000 women attended the annual Easter fashion show on the Pier.

1961 April - The large bandstand that had been a feature of the pier since 1916 was replaced by a smaller, moveable one

1960's. In the 60's characters such as Dr Cullen, the drunken fortune teller with long flowing hair, worked on The Pier as did The Great Omani, who lay on a bed of nails or, bound and chained, flung himself from the pier entertaining visitors.

1960's. During the 60's The Hollies, The Springfields, Gerry and the Pacemakers, Freddie and the Dreamers, the Searchers, Cilla Black, Tom Jones, The Who and The Troggs performed on the pier.

1960's. In the mid 60's a Townsend hovercraft operated near the Pier.

1964. The Rolling Stones performed on the pier in 1964 and returned three more times.

1966: The Hastings Corporation builds the Triodome on the parade extension to house The Hastings Embroidery.

1966 May 24 - The Hastings Embroidery, a successor to the Bayeux Tapestry by the Royal School of Needlework, was unveiled in the pier’s Triodome by Princess Alice. The Triodome, which replaced the bandstand demolished in 1961, was converted into an amusements arcade in 1969, and removed c1984.

1968: The parade extension and Triodome is acquired from the Corporation by the Hastings Pier Company.

1968. On Saturday 20th January 1968 at 7:45 till 11:45pm Pink Floyd performed on the Pier with Beaufords Image. Tickets were 12/6 in advance and 15/- at the door.

1968. Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett played his last ever show with the band on Hastings Pier, on January 20, 1968.

1969: The Triodome is converted into an amusement arcade. The bandstand shelters on the parade extension are converted into shops and kiosks.

After the rain has gone.....

Hastings Pier History, carrying on where we left off–

1900. Pier Problems From the Hastings News of 16/05/1901 The annual meeting of the Hastings Pier Company took place on 13 May was a heated affair. The company was not doing well and many shareholders were unhappy, voting against the chairman’s report. They felt the increased spending on band and entertainments was unwarranted, and it could be better if the pier went back to the old form of less expensive entertainment.

1900. Pier Fire From the Hastings News of 20/07/1900 There was an outbreak of fire on Hastings Pier during a concert on Sunday 15 July. The fire was put out promptly, though flames were seen from White Rock Parade

1904. Pier AGM: Good and Bad From the Hastings Mail of 28/05/1904 The AGM of the Hastings Pier Company was held in the Pier Pavilion. The directors were John Reeves, ST Weston JP, Dr GG Gray JP and WE Brown, with secretary LT Weston. There was much criticism from shareholders. Reeves said 1889-92 were the four most prosperous years they ever had.

1909. Pier Company’s Poor Results From the Hastings Mail of 24/04/1909 The AGM of the Hastings Pier Company on 21 April heard there was decreased profit and no dividend. A future plan was for a pavilion at the shore end. The directors were criticised.

1910: A small building is built on the deck at a cost of £2,500 to house a shooting gallery, animated pictures and additional amusements.

1910. A bowling alley was built on the Pier and a Joy wheel installed.

1912. A rifle saloon was built on the Pier

1913:  The shore-end section of the pier known as the 'Parade Extension' is sold to the Hastings Corporation for £7,000.

1913. The entrance to the pier was purchased and a new bandstand and shelter was to be built, to house 1,000 people under cover and 2,000 in the open air.

1913. The open deck was closed in and a bandstand and shelters were added.

1914 Sept- Hastings Council bought a quarter of Hastings Pier (the 220 feet nearest the land) and rebuilt it as a 220-feet square extension of the promenade. A bandstand and two curving large shelters were erected (the shelters are still there) and the extension was officially opened on April 19 1916.

1914. The Joywheel was removed

1915:  Proceeds from the sale are used to pay for new buildings at the shore-end, south of the extension, to contain an arcade, shops, tea room etc. The aim is to provide shelter all the way along the pier from the tollhouse to the sea-end pavilion.

1916. The new bandstand was built.(Visitors were later to complain of having to look at sick people on the hospital balcony nearby, whilst listening to the band.)

1917: July 15- A great fire destroyed the pavilion at the seaward end of Hastings Pier. The blaze was thought to have been caused by one of the Canadian soldiers stationed in the town discarding a cigarette. Much of the pier was damaged.

1920- A motorboat became a summer attraction on the pier.

1922: A new pavilion is opened. The central section of the pier is enlarged from 45ft to 80ft.

1922 the pavilion was rebuilt, it attracted lots of criticism and was compared with an aircraft hanger.

1922 . A replacement structure was built in with a less elaborate ballroom style structure at the end of the pier.

1925/6 - The landward end of Hastings Pier was rebuilt in a much extended form.

1928: The pier is modernised.

1930: Early 1930's the shore-end pavilion is reconstructed with a new frontage and is described as "an elegant and perfect example of the 'art deco' style of architecture and fashionable". The interior of the pavilion becomes an intimate theatre.

1930's. In the mid 30's a searchlight was attached to the pier to provide light and midnight swimming it was very popular with the youngsters.

1930's. In the 1930's stunt divers performed on the hour. They would dive into the sea from the top deck, tied up and fastened in sacks. They would sink into the sea and reappear later free from the sacks. The crowds loved it!

1936: Magistrates approve plans for improving #Hastings Pier.

1938: Storm damage to sea-end, and loss of sea-bed, results in repair costs of £22,000. Business is severely affected by the necessary closure.

1938 . Considerable storm damage was done to the sea-end of the pier and resulted in repairs of over £22,000.

Some Pier History–1866 - 1899

01/1866	Harbour and Pier? From the Hastings News of 26/01/1866 A council meeting on 19 January decided against the harbour and pier projects. But special council meetings on 12 and 16 February discussed a letter received from the promoters of the projects, and then approved the plans.
12/1869	Hastings Pier: Work Starts 18/12/1869 The first pile of Hastings Pier was driven at 3.00 am.
03/1870	Pier Piles From the Hastings News of 25/03/1870 The first cargo of iron works for the pier had arrived at Whitstable harbour. For more than a week the heavy screw piles had been hauled to the Parade at White Rock and stacked ready for use.
07/1870	Pier Progress From the Hastings News of 15/07/1870 About a hundred of the new screw piles of the pier now being built had now been driven in.
07/1871	Submarine Forest From the Hastings News of 21/07/1871 A large iron pile for the new pier-head hit a hard object and broke the large screw. It was a large oak trunk, three feet widest, 24 feet long, weight about 2 tons. “The pier-head is evidently in the very heart of the forest, as several smaller trees have already been taken up, and many others are scattered about. ” The new saloon is almost completed and will be the biggest room in the borough.
01/1877	1877 Jan 1 - The highest tide on record and a gale caused the worst damage on record, partly washing away the parade and some of the pier.
08/1883	Pier’s Busiest Day From the Hastings News of 10/08/1883 Hastings Pier had its busiest day so far in its 11-year history on Bank Holiday Monday, 6 August, when over 9,400 people passed through the turnstiles.
08/1885	Pier Landing Stage From the Hastings News of 28/08/1885 A new landing stage at the pier, costing £1,140, had commenced.
08/1887	Pier Steamer From the Hastings News of 12/08/1887 The pleasure steamer the Nelson was plying from Hastings Pier every weekday.
05/1890	Pier Landing Stage From the Hastings News of 02/05/1890 A big new landing stage on Hastings Pier was opened for steamboat traffic on Thursday 1 May.  The original landing stage was along the east side of the promenade beside the Pavilion. The work of the last ten months had extended this to the end of the pier and then taken in the whole of the pier-head. The staging now ran round both the east and south side of the Pavilion, but not the west, because that was too exposed. The staging was in three levels. About 400-500 tons of greenheart woods had been used, plus130-140 tons of iron. As many as four steamers could use the pier together.
02/1899	Pier Improvement From the Hastings News of 03/02/1899 The Hastings Pier pavilion closed at the end of January for re-roofing and enlargement. It was expected to re-open in mid-May. The pavilion had been open continuously since the pier opened in 1872.
09/1899	Pier Fire From the Hastings News of 22/09/1899 There was a fire on Hastings Pier on Monday 18 September, with the decking close to the side seats alight. The  probable cause was a careless smoker.

Make and Take - tea light holders

Join Bea  Rapley, one of the Learning and Education Managers and the Education Volunteers on Saturday 22nd November at The Hub, where we will be making tea light holders from the original pier planks and clay between 11am and 4pm.

• No booking required: just turn up on the day, we have enough resources for 50 people

• This workshop is suitable for children and we especially welcome families to come and work together.

 

The wood to be used is ‘Ipe’ and is one of the hardest woods on earth.   It comes originally from Brazil, but was used on Hastings Pier as decking behind the West Pavilion (near to where the old Gritti Palace was situated).  The exact history of the wood is unknown, but the Project Engineer thinks it may have been put in place following the 1987 storms.

The planks have been especially prepared for the workshop by the pier’s construction and engineering apprentices. We will be hand sanding and oiling the wood with teak oil and linseed oil and making a little holder for a tea light.

 
Once you have completed your tea light holder you will be able to take it home with you, a little piece of the pier to twinkle on your mantelpiece, or to give as a Christmas gift.

All lights blazing

A Symphony in colour as evening draws on

Construction update 3rd November 2014

• The old ballroom has now been removed.

• The concrete slab at the front is being broken up and should be cleared within the next week.
  Best Demolition are using a remote control machine with a pneumatic breaker to remove the slab safely.
• The demolition has gone very well and will actually be completed ahead of schedule.
• Now that the Pier Head is clear, a detailed survey of the structure can be carried out and preparations made for the contractor to start the repairs to the steel structure in December.
• The build up to the roof of the Old Pavilion is complete with insulation and waterproofing; the new zinc covering has now started. This will take about six weeks to finish, covering the main pitched roof and the two cupolas.
• Inside the building, the new floor structure is being built up and the structural restraints installed. All of the existing roof timbers have been treated with a fire retardant .
• Elsewhere on the Pier, the repairs to the steel structure continue with new trusses and beams being installed. The spine ‘road’ to the Pier Head will be completed this month, enabling full access with small vehicles.
• Also being installed are considerable amount of bracing and tie rods below the deck to hold the structure rigid and to resist the forces of the sea.
• Construction of the Visitor Centre hopefully will start early in the New Year.

The Community Shares Company and Hastings Pier

• Hastings Pier closed in 2004 and burnt down in 2010. The Charity had secured over £13M of lottery funding to enable the structure to be renovated but was short of the money to finish the build.
• It is essential that there are attractions on the Pier that earned enough money to cover ongoing maintenance. That meant working capital to develop the business but it was critical that this came from people who were prepared to be patient and allow the Pier time to develop its business.
• They also needed to energise the local community into supporting their Pier and knit people into the business. It was vital that this wasn’t about the lottery repairing the Pier in honour of its glorious heritage, but the community coming together to get their Pier developed as a symbol of a better future.

Hastings pier workings video

The Pier share issue was revolutionary because it was the first time a registered charity in the UK has issued share capital.

It also marked a departure for piers generally, which have tended to be owned unhappily in both the private and public sectors.

We had to ensure that people understood that despite all the good news about the £13M in grants, this last £500,000 was just as critical and that the Pier stood as a symbol for the wider regeneration of the town.

The second vital aspect was to engage a wider community of users as opposed to well-wishers.  Without revenue-generating businesses on top of the pier, the charity will be in danger of being yet another heritage project that costs millions but slowly rusts away because not enough people care enough about it to make use of it.

Over 3,000 people invested in the Pier share issue, with two thirds of them local to Hastings, drawn from all incomes and walks of life.  This was genuine community investment and the sheer number of investors demonstrates the desire people have not just to see the Pier re-opened but to take responsibility themselves for that rejuvenation.

And from the Hastings & St Leonards Observer………

“Finally, it’s now impossible not to feel increasing excitement for the pier, as its new shape emerges literally, from the ashes.

Opening next year, it will be a fantastic testament to the resilience and ambition of the town and its community with our bold new optimistic Pier.”
http://www.hastingsobserver.co.uk/news/columnists/shoreditch-by-the-sea-tag-reflects-regeneration-1-6390074

Hastings Independent Press announce new service

“We had feedback that you enjoy our reporting on Hastings Pier and the renovation and rebuilding efforts around it. To make it easier for you to find all related articles, we have created a dedicated page for this at Hastings Pier Progress. All published articles will soon be listed there for your reading pleasure.”

http://hastingsindependentpress.co.uk/category/hastings-pier/