It has been two months since my last entry, not because of any
form of “writers block”, laziness or apathy but simply because I haven’t had the
time.
Since returning from our six week spell in Tenerife I have
been fully employed tidying up the allotment, repairing the raised beds and
getting the early crops sown and planted.
Now with onions & garlic shooting and broad beans &
early potatoes planted I am pretty much on top of things.
We have also been busy at Selsey getting the caravan back up
and running and ready for the new season. Although still early in the year we
have had a couple of really nice weekends especially the weekend of the spring tides.
Last weekend was our 47th wedding anniversary and to celebrate we returned to Hastings and Rye for a long weekend.
We were booked to see “Blood Brothers” at the White Rock
theatre and staying for 2 nights in the White Rock hotel, next door to the
theatre.
Our hotel room overlooked the site of Hastings Pier where I
have spent many hours fishing with friends from Ipswich.
There has always been a great tradition of fishing from
seaside piers and Hasting Pier was no exception.
But sadly as piers close or fishing is prohibited on so
called Health and Safety grounds it is becoming less and less available.
So it was great to see that work on restoring the Victorian
pier was well underway and scheduled for reopening in the summer.
Designed by Eugenius Birch, who also designed the West Pier,
Brighton and Eastbourne Pier, Hastings pier was opened in 1872.
The original 2,000 seater pavilion was destroyed by fire in
1917. This was eventually replaced in 1922 and during the 1930s the pavilion
extension buildings received an art deco facelift and a theatre rebuild.
In the 1960s and the 1970s the theatre played host to
notable artists such as The Rolling Stones, The Who, Jimi Hendrix, Genesis, Tom
Jones, Ten Years After, and Pink Floyd.
Most famously, Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett played his
last ever show with the band here on 20 January 1968.
In 1990 the pier suffered considerable storm damage, requiring a
£1 million refurbishment. In 1996 it was put up for sale, but the future of the
pier was put in grave doubt as interested buyers were reluctant to invest due
to the serious amount of capital needed to improve the unstable structural
supports and in 1999 the pier was closed.
The pier was eventually sold in 2000 and reopened under new
ownership in 2002. However in July 2006, upon discovering that part of the
pier's structure was unsafe, Hastings Borough Council promptly closed the pier
to the general public.
On 5 October 2010 95% of the superstructure was destroyed by
fire thought to be the work of arson attack although subsequently this was not
proven.
Thanks to tireless work by The Hastings Pier & White
Rock Trust combined with The Hastings Observer Save the Pier Campaign and
funding from Heritage Lottery Fund, the £14 million restoration work commenced in
March 2014.
