<div xmlns:cc="http://creativecommons.org/ns#" xmlns:dct="http://purl.org/dc/terms/" about="http://s0.geograph.org.uk/geophotos/04/32/76/4327657_9e3851ba.jpg"><span property="dct:title">Hastings Pier restoration</span> (<a rel="cc:attributionURL" property="cc:attributionName" href="http://www.geograph.org.uk/profile/10354">Oast House Archive</a>) / <a rel="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/">CC BY-SA 2.0</a></div>
http://www.hpcharity.co.uk/our-organisation/faqs/http://www.hpcharity.co.uk/our-organisation/faqs/
The exact opening date of the pier is yet to be confirmed. The next 3 months is a critical time with regards to the construction project. Factors like the piling for the visitor centre which has started and will continue over the next month, and the weather, will impact on this. HPC hope to be in a position to announce a date at the end of March. – Watch his space!
Completing the main spine up the Pier has given full access to the Pier Head.
The steelwork there has been surveyed and there are 135 trusses to be replaced, as well as most of the deck beams. This is slightly more than expected.
The replacement of the trusses will utilise two small cranes which will make the operation easier and quicker.
The other area of concentration is the Visitor Centre.
The installation of the six piles (replacing those that bridged the WW2 gap) will support the Visitor Centre, has now started (first one being driven in, in photo above) and hopefully will be straight forward. Clearly there is always a degree of unknown, when you are coring into the ground for 10 to 15 metres. Trial bores give a good idea of what to expect but remember, Eugenius Birch encountered a lot of buried trees when the original piles were installed and that delayed them quite significantly. It would not have quite the same effect with the piling machine now being used, but could cause delay.
Elsewhere, the Old Pavilion is progressing well, the new zinc roof is almost complete, as are the service pods, which have been clad with 75 year old wood from the old decking.
HASTINGS seafront is set for a makeover in time for two major upcoming events.
The town’s borough council has successfully bid for £500,000 to spruce up the seafront in time for the reopening of Hastings Pier later this year and the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings in 2016.
The council said the events presented a “once-in-a-generation” opportunity to boost the town’s tourist attractions.
With a state-of-the-art indoor BMX/skateboard facility due to take over the redundant White Rock Baths, the money will go towards providing electric bikes and a wheelchair bike for hire to young riders and spectators visiting the new facility.
New signs will flag up attractions to visitors, while a world of information will be available with a smartphone app featuring a 3D walkthrough with ‘augmented reality’ to overlay historical views, heritage information, walks and trails and art and music downloads. The council hopes installing a free public wi-fi infrastructure at visitor hot spots will make the app run smoothly.
Improved lighting, seating and planting is all expected to improve the approach to Hastings Pier
And there’s more, much more, to see at The Pier Hub
This workshop is suitable for children and we especially welcome families to come and work together. Under 10s should be supervised by a non-participating adult for this activity.
But Nature (and the webcam) don’t do too badly either!
More tomorrow!
More tomorrow!
But come along to The Pier Hub and see these lovely works for yourself.
Hastings & St Leonards Observer, Saturday 16th January 1915
Mr. Ernest J Roberts conducting. All the items were of a popular character. A member of the 25th London Territorials, stationed at Bexhill, cyclist Bob Butler, a well-known London comedian, sang "Sister Susie Sewing Shirts for Soldiers" and "Water Scenes", both of which were vociferously encored. A Charming mezz-soprano, Miss Katie Lidbetter, sang "Your King and Country Want You" and "The Women Who Stay at Home", being encored for both.
H&BWR - http://www.recyclingwood.org.uk/
Originally founded by Mark Storr-Hoggins and a fellow roadie in search of a more settled lifestyle; H&BWR started as a social enterprise, with the remit of keeping waste wood out of landfill. The company evolved after designer Stewart Walton joined and saw the potential for using the reclaimed timber to create a range of furniture and products.
H&BWR are more than just manufacturers and enjoy working with clients quite early on in the design process. H&BWR has years of experience with using recycled timber and understand both its potential and limitations.
…………………………….. Working on Chicago Rib Shack, H&BWR were responsible for the restaurant’s back bar panels, bar tops, tables and floor panels.
H&BWR has an adaptable rather than prescriptive approach to the materials they use, as much depends on what they have in stock and in sufficient quantity when a project comes up. The range is wide and could be sea defence timber, 200 year old roofing joists, floorboards from a demolition site, old scaffold boards or hardwood pallets.
They recently collected all the salvageable decking boards from Hastings Pier, which burned down in 2010. In exchange for the timber H&BWR are now contracted to make all the furniture to be used on the newly refurbished pier out of this original reclaimed timber.
http://premierconstructionnews.com/2015/01/05/chicago-comes-to-clapham/
Time: Sat January 10th,11am – 12noon (1 - 2pm FULL)
FREE If you would like to book a place please email us.
Come to the Hub and have a look at the what they've made and get creative as well, with your own glass and tiles.
Time: Sat 24th January, 11 -3 pm.
FREE drop in no need to book
This workshop is suitable for children and we especially welcome families to come and work together. Under 10s should be supervised by a non-participating adult for this activity.
Work continues with the replacement of the steelwork to the Central and Access sections of the Pier; the old trusses and beams are cut out and replaced with new galvanised steel sections, with the Ekki joists and deck timbers following on.
At the same time we are repairing columns where necessary, particularly those that were replaced in the 1940’s. which are of a poor quality steel. .These all need to be reinforced with a lot of additional bracing installed.. We have now completed a central ‘spine’ up to the Pier Head which gives us access for light vehicles to distribute the materials.
Following the demolition of the old Ballroom, we have extensively surveyed the Pier Head steelwork and established how much of the structure needs to be replaced and which can be retained. Overall the condition is slightly worse than we had hoped but it is within the contingency that we had allowed. We will shortly be starting the replacement works which will take at least six months.
The refurbishment of the Bandstand Pavilion continues, the zinc covering to the roof is being finished. The two ‘pods’ on the West side have been constructed: these will provide the toilets and kitchen support areas. The steel supports to the main walls will shortly be constructed, with the windows and sliding doors being installed. This will then allow the works inside the building to be carried out.
The next major stage of the programme is the construction of the new Visitor Centre in the middle of the Pier. In January we will be boring the six piles to form the foundations for the building and this will be followed by the steel support structure and then the cross laminated timber building.
We hope you had a great Christmas and wish you a very Happy New Year. We will be keeping our fingers crossed that the stormy weather prevalent at this time last year does not make a seasonal return. The damage the Pier sustained in the storm of February 5th 2014 has now been repaired but the costs of this work have topped £1million - which of course is a huge sum and a great deal of additional, unplanned construction activity. We hope that such a major disruption will not be repeated.
The first quarter of 2015 is a critical time for the development of the new Pier. This phase of the construction work is technically demanding, since it involves the construction of a new support structure for the visitor centre building, and therefore crucial to the timing of when the pier can reopen. We will of course keep you up to date on how these works are progressing and what that means for the all-important question of what will be the opening date for the Pier.
In the meantime we continue to work on the Heritage Interpretation that will form an important attraction for visitors once the pier is up and running. Our digital archive is coming on well and we have a great number of really interesting and unusual 'objects' that will enable us to bring the Pier's incredible story to life. We thank everyone who has so far been kind enough to bring in their treasured memorabilia for us to digitise. Going forwards, we will be looking to capture important memories too and will soon be setting up a recording booth in the Hub to record oral histories for the enjoyment of future generations.
Finally we thank you for your interest in the work of restoring the Pier and we look forward to updating you regularly over the coming months.
Simon Opie.
The Hub will be opening again from Wednesday 14th January.
"Once Hastings, the ancient Cinque Port, was one of the country’s most important resorts, and its 910ft‑long pier – thought to be the first of the 99 in Britain that were built for entertainment, rather than as landing stages – was at the heart of its fortunes."
And now, once again, come Summer this year, 2015, Hastings will once again have a living pleasure pier, and people will flock to our town, that already has so much to offer those who love history, architecture, parklands, countryside, woods galore, cliffs, sea, miles of beach and scenery that inspired the Pre-Raphaelites, all in one place.
