Southport Pier
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Southport Pier is a
pleasure pier Seaside pleasure pier in Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th century.">England.html" ;"title="Brighton, England">Brighton, England. The first seaside piers were built in England in the early 19th ...
in
Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...
,
Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a metropolitan county, metropolitan and ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England, with a population of List of ceremonial counties of England, 1.38 million. It encompasses both banks of the Merse ...
, England. Opened in August 1860, it is the oldest iron pier in the country. Its length of makes it the second-longest in Great Britain, after
Southend Pier Southend Pier is a major landmark in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, United Kingdom. Extending into the Thames Estuary, it is the longest pleasure pier in the world. The bill to build the new pier, to replace a previous timber jetty, received Royal ...
. Although at one time spanning , a succession of storms and fires during the late 19th and early 20th centuries reduced its length to that of the present day. The pier has been host to famous entertainers, including
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
in the early 20th century. It was visited by steamliners in its heyday, but silting of the channel meant that by the 1920s very few steamers were able to reach the pier, and the service ceased in 1929. The pier fell into disrepair throughout the late 20th century, and by 1990 it was operating at a significant annual loss with rising maintenance costs. The local council sought to have the pier demolished, but were defeated in their attempt by a single vote. The pier was significantly restored during 2000–2002, and opened to the public in May 2002. The Southport Pier Tramway ran from Southport Promenade to the pier head at various times in the pier's history with various rolling stock, most recently until June 2015. The pier is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building, first listed on 18 August 1975.


Location

At , Southport Pier is the second longest in Great Britain. As a result of
silting Siltation, is water pollution caused by particulate terrestrial clastic material, with a particle size dominated by silt or clay. It refers both to the increased concentration of suspended sediments and to the increased accumulation (temporary or ...
in the water channel, part of the pier now passes overland before reaching the beach, as the silt has allowed land beneath the pier to be
reclaimed Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lak ...
. The entrance starts at Promenade Road and follows a route inland next to Princes Park, before crossing over Marine Drive and meeting the beach at approximately half-way along its length. The area that now houses the marine lake and surrounding road at the land-end of the pier was acquired by the pier corporation in 1885, following population growth in the local area and pier extensions in the 1870s. In the late 1920s the council reclaimed a large area of the beach to build an
urban park An urban park or metropolitan park, also known as a municipal park (North America) or a public park, public open space, or municipal gardens ( UK), is a park in cities and other incorporated places that offer recreation and green space to resi ...
, consisting of a lake,
miniature railway A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petro ...
and car parking. The pier is a seven-minute walk from
Southport railway station Southport railway station serves the town of Southport, Merseyside, England. The station is the terminal of the Southport branch of the Northern Line of the electric Merseyrail network and the diesel-operated Manchester-Southport Line. It is ...
, away.


History


19th century

Proposals for a pier in Southport were first suggested in 1844, in conjunction with a potential railway from Manchester, with a committee formed in 1852 to help promote its construction. Following debates throughout the following few years about what its intended usage should be, the Southport Pier company was formed in March 1859 with a £12,000 capital. The cost to build the pier was estimated at £8000 (), eventually rising to £8700 () with construction work commencing in August 1859. The pier's primary purpose was to be a promenade as opposed to a ship docking pier, and thus is considered to be the country's first pleasure pier. A year later, on 2 August 1860, the pier was officially opened with a grand
procession A procession is an organized body of people walking in a formal or ceremonial manner. History Processions have in all peoples and at all times been a natural form of public celebration, as forming an orderly and impressive ceremony. Religious ...
; at a length of it was the second-longest and first iron-constructed pleasure pier in the country. Waiting rooms for boat passengers were added during the pier's first few years of operation, and a cable-operated tramway had been installed by 1865. The pier was extended to in 1868 and was used by various steamer ships, including those of the ''Blackpool, Lytham and Southport Steam Packet Company'', with services operating from the pier to resorts including
Fleetwood Fleetwood is a coastal town in the Borough of Wyre in Lancashire, England, at the northwest corner of the Fylde. It had a population of 25,939 at the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census. Fleetwood acquired its modern character in the 1830 ...
and Llandudno. Visitors to the pier had to pay a toll, priced deliberately high at 6d (equivalent to £2.75 in 2016) to ensure only the most affluent could afford it. As the 1870s progressed, the numbers of working class visitors increased and tolls were reduced to 2d. Storm damage was a frequent occurrence – several storms caused damage to the pier's foundations and buildings throughout the late 1880s and early 1890s. A fire in September 1897 destroyed the original pavilion; its replacement was opened in January 1902 and considered grander, with the inclusion of an auditorium.


20th century

A popular attraction from 1903 were an array of divers, typically diving from the tea house roof several times daily; the most popular and longest-serving were Professors Osbourne and Powsey, the latter frequently jumping off the pier on a bicycle. From 1906, the newly constructed pavilion was leased out to play host to a variety of entertainers, including
Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...
and
George Robey Sir George Edward Wade, Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (20 September 1869 – 29 November 1954),James Harding (music writer), Harding, James"Robey, George" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University P ...
. Following the First World War, the pavilion was renamed the Casino and its main attraction on offer was dancing. This period was a financial success for the pier, with a net profit of £9155 () in 1913 and an annual average profit of £6750 () during the 1920s. By the early 1920s, silting in the water channel allowed for land reclamation, whilst it became more and more difficult for steamer ships to reach the pier; the service ceased entirely in 1929. Profits fell during the 1930s depression, compounded with a large fire in July 1933 destroying the pier head. The cost of damage was estimated at £6000 () which was unaffordable to the Southport Pier Company, who ended up selling the pier to Southport Corporation in June 1936 for £34,744 (). The pier was closed to the public during the Second World War to house and operate
searchlight A searchlight (or spotlight) is an apparatus that combines an extremely bright source (traditionally a carbon arc lamp) with a mirrored parabolic reflector to project a powerful beam of light of approximately parallel rays in a particular direc ...
s to detect enemy aircraft travelling to
Liverpool docks The Port of Liverpool is the enclosed dock system that runs from Brunswick Dock in Liverpool to Seaforth Dock, Seaforth, on the east side of the River Mersey and the Birkenhead Docks between Birkenhead and Wallasey on the west side of the r ...
, yet was not physically separated from the land like other piers were during this time. The pier did not reopen again until 1950 and in June 1959, suffered a significant fire which destroyed of decking, reducing its length to the present day and for a period of time making it the third longest pier after
Herne Bay Pier Herne Bay Pier was the third pier to be built at Herne Bay, Kent for passenger steamers. It was notable for its length of and for appearing in the opening sequence of Ken Russell's first feature film ''French Dressing''. It was destroyed in ...
, until that was destroyed by a storm in 1978. Sefton Council acquired ownership of the pier in 1974 following national reorganisation of local government and it was designated as a
Grade II listed structure In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
on 18 August 1975 despite being in a state of deterioration. A grant of £62,400 () was awarded in 1983 by the
European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...
to strengthen the pier's structure. Deterioration continued during the latter 20th century and worsened by a storm in 1989, causing extensive damage. Despite its listed status,
Sefton Council Sefton Council is the governing body for the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in the county of Merseyside, north-western England. The council was under no overall control from the 1980s until 2012 when the Labour Party took control. It is a cons ...
sought to demolish the pier in December 1990 due to the rising cost of repairs and maintenance, yet was defeated by a single vote. Operating at an annual loss of £100,000 and with estimates close to £1 million to secure the future of the pier, plus a further £250,000 required every five years for repainting, a charitable trust was formed in 1993 to upkeep the pier; various funding was secured in the subsequent years to maintain the pier's operation. In February 1997, a grant of £34,000 () was provided from lottery funding in order for a structural survey to be undertaken, confirming the pier's then poor condition and recommending its closure. In October 1998, the pier received a heritage grant of £1.7 million from the
Heritage Lottery Fund The National Lottery Heritage Fund, formerly the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), distributes a share of National Lottery funding, supporting a wide range of heritage projects across the United Kingdom. History The fund's predecessor bodies were ...
, awarded to support restoration and access.


21st century

After falling into disrepair and subsequently closing, work to restore the pier began in 2000 and was completed in 2002, opening to the public in May 2002 with the restoration costing £7.2 million, complete with a new tram. Restoration of the pier formed part of a wider redevelopment strategy, including a new sea wall to help prevent flooding, landscaping around the pier and a new £28 million Ocean Plaza shopping complex. The pier today is an open structure, with modern railings on an older base and a deck made of hardwood slats, affording a partial view of the sea below. Along the walkway are name plaques that local people funded to help towards raising the restoration funds. The modern pavilion structure at the pier head was designed by
Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
architects Shed KM and cost £1.2 million; the building houses a cafeteria with airport style floor to ceiling windows overlooking the beach and a collection of vintage mechanical amusement machines and
penny arcade ''Penny Arcade'' is a webcomic focused on video games and video game culture, written by Jerry Holkins and illustrated by Mike Krahulik. The comic debuted in 1998 on the website ''loonygames.com''. Since then, Holkins and Krahulik have establish ...
. The exhibition of Edwardian and Victorian machines operates on pre-decimalisation pennies, available to purchase on-site at £1 for 10 old pennies. Plans were announced in April 2017 to renovate the pier as part of a £2.9 million makeover, with two-thirds of the cost coming from the Coastal Communities Fund to include repairs and new retail units. Additionally, the council seek to undertake repainting and mechanical works, as well as pavilion improvements and providing easier access to the pier from the beach.


Tramway

Initially, the pier had a baggage line from 1863, though this was replaced in 1864 when the pier was widened to provide a steam-driven tramway capable of transporting passengers and their luggage. The line was re-laid in 1893, with electrification coming in April 1905. The rolling stock was rebuilt in 1936 when the line was taken over by Southport Corporation. The pier was closed during the Second World War, but when it reopened the tram did not reopen with it, as the town had lost its supply of DC electricity. The tram line eventually reopened in 1950, with the
track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many d ...
changed and moved to the side of the pier (previously central) and from 1954 operated with new diesel trains, known as the ''Silver Belle'' and built by local engineer Harry Barlow who owned the
Lakeside Miniature Railway The gauge, single track Lakeside Miniature Railway runs along the seaward side of the Marine Lake in Southport, England. Route The railway originally consisted of a straight running line on the seaward shore of the Southport Marine Lake ...
. The stock was replaced in 1973 with ''English Rose'', which operated until the mid-1990s, at which time there were doubts over the pier's future. The ''Silver Belle'' stock became derelict at Steamport for some years, before moving to the
West Lancashire Light Railway The West Lancashire Light Railway (WLLR) is a narrow gauge railway that operates at Hesketh Bank, situated between Preston and Southport in North West England. The distance between the stations on the railway is , though track extends eastward ...
for conversion into carriages. The restoration in 2002 provided a new
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
tram track in the centre of a widened deck and on 1 August 2005, a new twin-section
articulated An articulated vehicle is a vehicle which has a permanent or semi-permanent pivot joint in its construction, allowing it to turn more sharply. There are many kinds, from heavy equipment to buses, trams and trains. Steam locomotives were someti ...
,
battery power An electric battery is a source of electric power consisting of one or more electrochemical cells with external connections for powering electrical devices. When a battery is supplying power, its positive terminal is the cathode and its negati ...
ed tram car started service on this track, with a passenger capacity of 74 people. The tram ran every day of the year except
Christmas Day Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year, ...
and provided a half-hourly service in both directions. In July 2013, the tram service was suspended following the discovery of cracks within the supporting columns and ceased running entirely in June 2015 due to rising maintenance costs and council cost-cutting measures. It was replaced by an extension of a pre-existing smaller
land train Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of the planet Earth that is not submerged by the ocean or other bodies of water. It makes up 29% of Earth's surface and includes the continents and various is ...
, with the tram removed for sale in March 2016.


Cultural references

The pier has been featured in films, such as the 1985 film Mr. Love, which was filmed primarily in Southport. In 2014, a BBC drama titled ''There To Here'' filmed some scenes at Southport pier, which takes place in June 1996 in Manchester when an
IRA Ira or IRA may refer to: *Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name *Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name *Iran, UNDP code IRA Law *Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
bomb caused significant damage to Manchester's city centre. In 2021, the pier featured in the closing scene of the BBC drama,
Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
, which starred Sean Bean and Stephen Graham.


Awards

*2003
National Piers Society The National Piers Society (NPS) is a registered charity in the United Kingdom dedicated to promoting and sustaining interest in the preservation and continued enjoyment of seaside piers. It was founded in 1979, with Sir John Betjeman as the fi ...
: Pier of the Year


See also

* Southport Corporation Tramways * List of town tramway systems in England *
List of town tramway systems in the United Kingdom This is a list of town tramway systems in the United Kingdom divided by constituent country and by regions of England. It includes all tram systems, past and present. Most of the tram systems operated on (SG) or track, although there were a sm ...


References

Notes Citations Sources *


External links


Southport Pier at visitliverpool.comPictures of Southport PierSouthport Pier Railway c1991 from flickrSouthport Pier Webcam
{{Piers in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures in Southport Piers in Merseyside Tourist attractions in Merseyside Grade II listed buildings in Merseyside Pier railways Tram transport in England Rail transport in Merseyside 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in England 1 ft 11½ in gauge railways in England