More than 200,000 people have visited Hastings Pier since it reopened in late March after very extensive renovations.

It is a triumph for a structure that was judged unsafe in 2008 after years of neglect and ill-maintenance – and after a devastating fire in 2010 destroyed 95% of the superstructure. Only the tenacity of a local action group saved the much-loved 144-year-old pier.

[quote]“The project has become an example of what can be done with huge – and badly neglected – historic structures.”[/quote]

An HLF grant of £11.4million, matching awards from a number of sources totalling £2.5m and an astonishing £850,000 raised from over 4,700 investors from a Community Share offer (most of whom live nearby) has funded the revival of this British seaside icon.

The project has become an example of what can be done with huge – and badly neglected – historic structures.

The rebuilt pier is truly a pier for the 21st century - free public wifi in the restaurant and a new two-storey cafe and bar with function rooms available for meetings, birthdays and, we’re hoping, weddings. 

Telling the pier’s story

In honour of the pier’s astonishing musical heritage - practically every band worth seeing played the pier ballroom in the 50s, 60s and 70s including the Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix and Pink Floyd - the opening gala celebration featured a day of music culminating in a live set from Madness - lead singer Suggs is a Hastings lad.

[quote]“Alongside the emphasis on heritage, the new pier was deliberately left with enormous open spaces to allow the greatest possible flexibility in future attractions.”[/quote]

The pier is now 272 metres long (a couple of metres shorter than the original 1872 design) and has just two buildings on it. The first, The Pavilion Restaurant, is the one remaining original building that survived the 2010 fire, now with a takeway fish and chip shop.

The second is a new building, The Deck, with an upper-storey roof terrace and cafe and on the ground floor two rooms and a shop. One of these rooms houses the pier’s heritage archive; a number of touchscreen computers give free access to an astonishing collection of memorabilia of the pier from oral accounts from townsfolk through to ticket stubs and old photographs, some dating back well over 100 years.

A pier for locals and visitors

Alongside the emphasis on heritage, the new pier was deliberately left with enormous open spaces to allow the greatest possible flexibility in future attractions - this year so far there has been a very popular outdoor cinema season (including showings of Jaws, of course), a traditional merry-go-round and kids’ funfair, a summer solstice yoga event and a circus complete with Big Top and trapeze artists.

You could also have seen the recent transit of Mercury from the pier courtesy of a telescope set up by the local astronomy society, drunk an 1872 bottled beer brewed specifically for (and only available on) the pier by Sussex brewer Harvey’s, gone fishing off the pier head or just taken in the sea views.

Remembering the Battle of Hastings

The pier is also taking centre stage in some of the celebrations planned for the 950th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings. The pier engineer, Peter Wheeler, is hoping to re-enact King Harald’s march south to Hastings to meet the Norman invaders. Harald defeated the Viking army at the battle of Stamford Bridge just days before William invaded and so had to march well over 200 miles south in less than 10 days - which could well have contributed to his defeat.

What’s next

As the summer draws to a close there’s set to be three live outdoor concerts featuring Dizzee Rascal, The Levellers and the Happy Mondays, a second outdoor cinema season is lined up for late September or early October and the winter will bring farmers’ markets, a Christmas fair and lots of use by townsfolk and locals. 

We hope that the pier will become an iconic live music venue once again as well as one of the stand-out tourist attractions on the south coast.