A unique pier that used to be a boarding point for paddle steamers plying their trade in the Bristol channel and in the second world war played a part in the development of the Dambusters’ bouncing bomb is a step closer to being saved thanks to a £10m lifeline.
Birnbeck Pier in Weston-super-Mare, said to be the only pier in the UK linking the mainland to an island, fell into disrepair after closing to the public 30 years ago and is on Historic England’s heritage at risk register.
The £10m from the National Lottery will be used to stabilise the Grade II*-listed pier structure to make it safe and usable once again.
John Crockford-Hawley, the mayor of Weston-super-Mare, said he was delighted at the announcement, which was made on Monday, 160 years to the day since the pier’s foundation stone was laid.
“I’m old enough to remember when it was in full fling,” he said. “As a young teenager, my mum would give me and my friends sandwiches and off we’d go on a paddle steamer. We’d go cruising around the channel or down to Ilfracombe [in Devon]. It was all great fun.
“I can remember also on one occasion with my sister being taken shopping in Bristol from Weston by ship. We went from Birnbeck, called in at Clevedon Pier, sailed up the Avon, under the Clifton Suspension Bridge and docked at Hotwells. We had to catch the bus back because the wretched tide had gone out.”
During the second world war the pier was used for research into new weapons and its work included conducting trials on Barnes Wallis’s bouncing bomb. “Whether Barnes Wallis was actually in Weston, I’ve no idea,” said Crockford-Hawley. “People say he was but it was all hush-hush but certainly the pier played its role in the war.”
The opening of the Severn Bridge between England and Wales in 1966 – and the rise in popularity of package holidays to Spain – led to the slow decline of Weston. The last steamer excursion sailed in 1979 and in 1994 the pier was closed to the public.
Crockford-Hawley told the story – possibly apocryphal – of the last steamer on a Saturday night going home to Wales. “It was said you could hear [the hymn] Cwm Rhondda being sung in mid-channel.”
Weston already has its Grand Pier but having another working pier farther north along the promenade should encourage more visitors to explore the town.
Crockford-Hawley said: “Weston has become less of a seaside resort and more of a town which happens to be by the seaside. All seaside towns have difficulty in doing is trying to forge a new image which isn’t one of decay.”
The £10m will enable further restoration work for the listed buildings on the pier and island and the development of a new lifeboat station to take place.
Designed by the seaside architect Eugenius Birch and opened in 1867, Birnbeck is considered a remarkable example of Victorian engineering. North Somerset council is continuing to seek further funding to support the restoration project. Cllr Mark Canniford, North Somerset council’s executive member for spatial planning, placemaking and economy, said the the pier was important for the resort.
He said: “It will be extremely difficult to reach the levels a town like Weston should reach in terms of its tourist offer, facilities and infrastructure in and around the seafront without restoring the historic and major structures on our coastline.”
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution operated for more 130 years from Birnbeck until it was forced to leave when the pier became too dangerous in 2014. Max Underhill, the RNLI’s head of estates, said: “A lifeboat station in Weston, at this point in the Bristol channel, is a key lifesaving asset and Birnbeck Island is the best site along this busy stretch of coast for a lifeboat station.”
Eilish McGuinness, the chief executive of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “It’s really sad when something so beautiful is in need. I think is going to be something really special for people to visit.”
