Back to the Beginning

Adam Trimingham - The Argus Saturday, 31 January, 2004

THE GHOST of West Pier creator Eugenius Birch has loomed large over years of vain attempts to restore his ruined masterpiece.

But few modern conceptions of the attraction - whether from recent memory or pictures - could be said to be authentic versions of Birch's own West Pier.

For the concert hall and theatre which enjoyed such prominence until being toppled by storms and fire were not added until years after Birch's death in 1884.

The back-to-basics West Pier now being suggested by English Heritage would reflect the original purpose and appearance of 1866.

Then the West Pier offered merely a 400m promenade, two square tollhouses, two octagonal kiosks with minarets in the centre and four more kiosks at the corners of a large pierhead platform.

Glass screens at the pierhead shielded promenaders.

A restoration of this form and function may not boast the pomp of the later additions, which attracted thousands of visitors, performers and film-makers such as Richard Attenborough for Oh! What A Lovely War.

But it would enable people to set foot on the Grade I listed pier for the first time since it was closed for safety reasons in September 1975.

And while they would be unable to shop, dine and drink in the outlets mooted by the now-stalled St Modwen plan, the kiosks could offer candyfloss and Brighton rock, at least.

The alternative, as suggested by many this week after the apparent collapse of a £44 million restoration bid, would seem to be dismantling and clearing the remains.

Storms and the two arson attacks last year obviously inflicted a devastating and near-fatal toll on the pier.

Huge chunks of it have been lost, either burnt to cinders or washed away.

Crucial

But any rebuilding attempt would at least have a foundation, taken from the two "treasure troves" of materials stored by the West Pier Trust.

One of those is in a warehouse beneath the pier, the other in a secret location in the Sussex countryside.

These contain various rusting metal girders and beams, battered seats and grimy, dust-coated windows.

Crucial to the new plans could be the surviving sections of the original kiosks.

The West Pier Trust believes two can be fully rebuilt, parts of two others are still available, while the other two have been entirely lost to the sea.

But the pier's metal structure has remained largely sturdy, thanks to the over-engineering Birch insisted upon.

The metal supports and cast-iron girders holding the super-structure together have done a valiant job until now.

The most likely advantages of a pared-down pier would be bypassing the type of vociferous opposition prompted by previously proposed commercial developments.

Not that the 1866 pier was popular with everyone then.

People living in nearby Regency Square protested strongly about the square tollhouses at the entrance to the pier, believing they were ugly obstacles spoiling sea-views.

But the sheer pleasure of wandering up and down the windswept West Pier soon began to pull in the promenaders - up to 10,000 people on Sundays.

More than 600,000 people passed through the turnstiles during 1875.

The long-gone Chain Pier, further east along the coast, was seen as the West Pier's cheap and cheerful neighbour.

The West Pier, in contrast, was considered the "posh" pier, where the town's middle classes would mingle over the shingle.

An early West Pier advertising slogan boasted: "The West Pier Is The Best Pier".

Building work had begun in April 1863, using Birch's cast-iron screw piles, and took three years to complete at a then-vast cost of £27,000.

The cast-iron threaded columns were screwed into the seabed, bolstered by ties and girders.

Brighton mayor Henry Martin formally opened the West Pier on October 6,1866.

But the larger flourishes for which the pier became famous only emerged gradually over the following half-century.

The skull of a whale washed ashore in January 1882 was exhibited and a miniature cannon was fired at noon as a daily attraction.

A central bandstand was built in 1875 and the 1880s brought weather screens the length of the pier and steamer landing-stages.

In 1893, new landing stages were added, the pierhead was widened and a large 1,400-seater pavilion was built, decorated with oriental towers.

The pavilion was converted into a theatre ten years later and the concert hall was built in 1916.

During the Twenties and Thirties the West Pier enhanced its reputation as a hugely-popular pleasure pier.

The theatre, boasting its own repertory company, hosted plays, pantomimes and ballets.

The pier's resident orchestra performed in the concert hall while military bands, high-divers and steamer excursions were also on offer.

The pier was cut in two in 1940 to prevent enemy landings during the Second World War.

When it reopened in 1945 the theatre was converted into an amusement arcade.

But the imperious appearance of these additions to the basic West Pier remained central to the popular image of the landmark.

Professor Fred Gray, the official West Pier historian, has mixed feelings about whether stepping 138 years back in time would be the best option.

He said: "For the first 25 years after the West Pier opened it was relatively successful but it wasn't really until the pavilion and concert hall were added that it entered its boom years.

"The original West Pier was essentially a place where you could walk, look at the sea, take a boat trip or listen to music.

"I think a lot of people would like to be able just to go on the pier again. I know I would.

"Anything is better than no West Pier at all, which has been a real possibility. But I do think the pavilion and the concert hall were really brilliant buildings, so it would be a tragedy if we could never see them again."

The partial collapses of December 2002 and January 2003 received international Press coverage, such was the drama of the pavilion plummeting into the sea.

Less widely-publicised was the tumble of one of the six original kiosks into the sea in March 1983.

It was one of the two at the southern end of the pier and finally fell victim to the corrosive effects of saltwater on its metal supports.

Many more shards of metal and wood have toppled into the waters since then.

Each clunk, clatter and splash would surely have saddened the heart of Eugenius Birch.

But perhaps today his ghost has a hopeful smile.