Today on the blog we’re celebrating that most wonderful of British holiday symbols – the seaside pier! The sight of a colourful vintage seaside pier stretching out over the sea must be one of the most iconic symbols of British holiday resorts. They are a reminder of the wealth and engineering feats of the Victorian age, as well as of carefree holidays by the seaside.

            Pleasure piers, as opposed to harbour piers or fishing piers, began to spring up at seaside resorts around the country in the early 19^th century. These resorts were fast becoming fashionable thanks to the spread of the railways which meant easy access for people from industrial towns and cities to clean, fresh sea air and affordable holidays. However, the Victorians had one little problem – at many resorts with large tidal ranges the sea was often infuriatingly far away from the shore. So clever Victorian entrepreneurs came up with an ingenious solution – a walkway that stretched out over the sands so that holidaymakers could stroll beside the sea no matter what state the tide was in.

The very first pier in Britain was built in the town of Ryde on the Isle of Wight in 1814 and many others soon followed. But sadly, since the heyday of the Victorian era the great British seaside pier has had something of a chequered history. At the turn of the twentieth century there were over 100 piers around the country, but today it is just half that number. Their demise has been blamed on rise of the foreign package holiday and maintenance costs to these impressive, but enormous, structures.

Here in North Wales we have some wonderful piers to visit – try the Garth Pier in Bangor, Victoria Pier in Colwyn Bay, Royal Pier in Aberystwyth, Llandudno Pier and Beaumaris Pier. All of these marvels of Victorian engineering are well worth a visit. And there may even be an ice cream kiosk at the end of it…… yum! Summer holiday heaven!

Beautiful Victoria Pier in Colwyn Bay at the turn of the 20th century