The Piers

The Palace Pier and the West Pier are arguably the most well-known and popular icons of Brighton & Hove seafront throughout the years. The piers have always been a great source of inspiration for local writer and stories of working and promenading them are consistent recollections in QueenSpark Books.

On this page and in Piers in the 30s and 40s and  Red Arrow Air Show you can explore local memories of the Piers during the first half of the 20th century.

You can download The Piers, and its accompanying pages, by clicking here (PDF format).

Early days of the Pier
The Pier became extremely popular - in 1875 for example, 875, 000 people visited it. As a result, in 1893, the owners decided to enlarge it by widening the seaward end and erecting a large Pavilion on it. The new building, at first used for concerts, was converted into a theatre in 1903 and this is the building we can see today.

After the landing stages were built in 1902, paddle steamers used to call to take people on trips along the coast. In between the landing stages and the main Pier there was a lagoon which was the centre for many aquatic entertainments. There were diving exhibitions by Zoe Brigden and Gladys Powsey, and there was the famous Professor Reddish who used to dive off the West Pier on his bicycle.

It's strange that I had never been on the West Pier before I applied for a vacancy, although I had lived in Hove for quite a few years. I thought it would be quite frightening working over the sea; strange thing was you never noticed it. Several times I saw porpoises basking in the sea. The first time I thought they were whales.
Daphne Mitchell - Oh What a Lovely Pier

The two Piers in the 20s
The two piers were a great source of entertainment and in 1928, when my friend and I were both twenty, we used to spend a lot of time on them. I preferred the West Pier: it wasn't as long as the Palace Pier, but I liked the more sedate atmosphere. It was kept in beautiful condition and after the ravages of the sea and the weather of winter, there began a grand spring cleaning effort, where underparts were checked for damage before the arrival of the paddle steamers each Easter. The paintwork was then restored and any worn planking replaced. We used to look forward to trips on the steamers.
Marjory Batchelor - A Life Behind Bars