My Brighton and Hove | Places | Landmarks and attractions | West Pier

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West Pier

Photo of the West Pier, 1994

Click to hear Jessica speak

A ghost of a pier

By Jessica, schoolchild

When I'm on the Palace Pier playing in the arcades, I look across and see the West Pier, which looks very derelict, and on its own, and quiet. I always wonder what's it's like because the Council have just let it get ruined. I like looking at it the best when it's all foggy because it looks really mysterious and ghostly. I think they should build it up again and get people to buy little bits of it, so they work there.

Image and text from the 'My Brighton' museum exhibit

This page was added on 22/03/2006.

Comments about this page

Beautiful. The picture, the perspective and the writing. Really refreshing. I remember feeling the same when I was Jessica's age.

By Nadine Wild Palmer (07/11/2003)

While I can't really get a visual in my mind of what the pier once was, I do remember the two weeks I spent there in the late 50s (1957 or 1958). I was stationed at RAF Chicksands near Bedford and spent part of a 30-day leave at Brighton. As I remember it, I just wanted to get away from my highly stressful duties and spend time at the beach. Being a Californian kid, I have to admit that getting used to a pebbled beach took a little time but in time, I got used to it and really enjoyed my time there. Recently I have been doing searches of places I have been and was surprised to find out about the condition of the pier. I hope that restoration plans will come to fruition. And I was surprised to learn that surfing exists there, I don't recall surfing anywhere in the UK when I was there.

By Dave Moore (26/10/2004)

The last time I came home to visit my family in Brighton was Dec 2002 when sadly the West Pier collapsed into the sea. I even came back to South Africa with a piece of the West Pier - albeit very tiny.

By Julie Hilton (22/04/2005)