HASTINGS PIER SUSSEX HERITAGE SUNSHINE GIRLS

Sussex is a glorious county, the so-called garden of England and for very good reason. I've lived in Sussex most of my life, including: Brighton, Eastbourne, Seaford, Newhaven, Hadlow Down, and of course Herstmonceux.

There is so much of interest to see and do in the United Kingdom, and we hope to expand the local geography section as time allows, to cover the most interesting aspects of this wonderful country.

Hastings Pier is a pleasure pier in Hastings, East Sussex in the United Kingdom. The town has never been able to compete with the cosmopolitan Brighton or the babe-tastic Bournemouth. Even neighbouring blue rinse, Eastbourne, beats it with its sea front flower arrangements, although we note their pier is also in need of some paint. Hastings has not got a lot to recommend it as our pictures suggest, and the rumours that Hastings has the second-highest suicide rate in the UK is enough to make anyone want to rethink their location.

During various period of its history, the pier included various halls: Pier Pavilion (destroyed in 1917, rebuilt 1922, used as a drama theatre in the 1930s), Pier Theatre (opened 1881?, rebuilt 1934, demolished 1951), and a bandstand. Used for music hall and variety performances. From the 1960s, also used for large rock concerts.

The pier opened on August 5, 1872, by the then Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports, Earl of Granville. Eugenius Birch, designer of the West Pier, Brighton, also designed this pier. In 1996 the pier was put up for sale, but the future of the pier was put in doubt as there were no interested buyers due to the amount of money needed to improve the piers supports. However the pier was bought and reopened under new ownership in 2002. Despite the investment put into safety features it was recently discovered that supports had collapsed, and it is now unlikely the pier will be open for the summer.

Construction on Hastings Pier started on 18th December 1869. It was opened by the Earl of Granville, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports amid great ceremony on Monday, 5th August 1872, the country's first ever Bank Holiday. Designed by the famous engineer Eugenius Birch, at a cost of £23,250, the original pier was modelled on Brighton West Pier. Unlike Brighton, however, a very handsome oriental style pavilion, capable of seating 2000 people comfortably, was constructed at the seaward end. The pier was 910ft (275m) long and varied in width from 45ft (13.6m) to 190ft (57.5m). On the approach to the pavilion, a flight of steps either side of the building led down to the landing stages, each 200ft (60.6m) long by 8ft (2.4m) wide. In 1885 a further landing stage was built at a cost of £2,000.

During the early part of the 20th century, many small buildings were erected on Hastings Pier to house various leisure facilities. In 1910/1911 a shooting gallery and slot machines were installed, and in 1912 a rifle range and bowling alley were added. In 1913 the shoreward end of the pier, known as the 'parade extension', was sold to the local council to finance a new arcade, shops and tearooms. On 15th July 1917 the pavilion was destroyed by fire, eventually being replaced by a much less elaborate structure in 1922 often cruelly referred to by the townsfolk as an 'aircraft hanger'. A shoreward end pavilion was built in 1926, embellished by an art deco façade in the 1930s. During this period Hastings Pier provided much entertainment. There was dancing every night, daytime concerts, stunt diving, and speedboat trips out to the harbour and back. A searchlight was even fitted to the pier to provide adequate light for the youngsters who dared to go midnight swimming.

Pier owner 'will appeal' against order to keep it closed - 12 September 2006

A COURT has ruled the main section of Hastings Pier will remain closed until vital repair work is complete.

Despite objections from owner Ravenclaw and legal representations from tenant Stylus Sports, District Judge Roger Ede decided Hastings Council was justified in closing the structure on June 16.

After hearing from the council's expert witness at Hastings Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, Judge Ede ruled there was definite risk to the health and safety of the public caused by failing trusses supporting the structure. He said: "The damaged trusses could lead to overloading and what the expert witness described as progressive collapse. For that reason I am making the order."

Public access to the main section will continue to be prohibited, as will access by any vehicle. Where this leaves the future of the pier remains unclear. Commercial manager Harmesh Pooni is adamant it is not the end.

After Tuesday's hearing, he said: "We will appeal and take this to the High Court. We were confident of victory here today but our preparations were scuppered when our engineer resigned earlier this week, saying the pressure of the job had become too much.

"Obviously public safety is paramount, but the evidence produced by the council was very selective. Ironically, the pictures of failing trusses they presented were mainly from the front section of the pier, which they have been urging people to visit."

Hastings Council spokesman Kevin Boorman said he was very pleased the council's position had be vindicated by the judge. "We have only ever been interested in public safety," he said. "What we need to do now is work with the owners and tenants to ensure the work is carried out to make the pier safe, and it should have a bright future. "But we do expect the pier owners to take responsibility for their structure."

Responding to Mr Pooni's statement that Ravenclaw would take the matter to appeal, Mr Boorman added: "It has taken us three months to get here. Our evidence was available back in June, and we were the only party to produce experts in court.

"If Ravenclaw were serious about contesting the order, we would have expected them to produce their own experts and evidence by now."

Saturday night in the swish bars of Hastings and the talk of the town is the latest Collusion event on Hastings Pier, with special guest, Radio One DJ Judge Jules.

Despite a constant battle with the national press, the local Council's efforts to brighten up the seafront, parks and town centre areas added to the new businesses including the recently opened University Centre Hastings which currently hosts 450 students, with another 700 expected in September... With all that in mind - things are on the up, as Collusion regularly seems to prove.

Closing time arrives and a steady stream of clubbers make their way to the ballroom at the end of the pier, where local resident Simon "One Stop" Fortsch (aka Sound Fortsch) is building the night with a selection of old trance classics and newer tunes. In the funky second room, people are cutting a rug to disco-tinged favourites from (What The Funk? & Clubbing UK's) Matt Sharp and Scott Taylor.

Midnight arrives and with it a huge cheer for the star of the show, Judge Jules, who launches into an upfront trance selection, which includes another airing for his latest production featuring none other than the Judge himself on vocals. “It’s been a very long time since I’ve played on Hastings pier,” he grins, “but I’m pleased to see the crowd have lost none of their enthusiasm”.

As Jules signs off and the crowd roar their approval, Collusion resident DJ Eggy takes over with a harder-edged sound and people stomp on into the night.

Writing in his weekly diary on www.judgejules.net, Jules writes:

"the evening at Hastings Pier was very busy, and the atmosphere even better. I don’t know what it is about seaside towns, but just about every key one has a vibrant club scene. I hadn’t played Hastings previously for over ten years, but there certainly won’t be anything like this gap before I’m back again. We left for the 3 hour slap back up to Global with huge smiles on our faces."

The months of hard work of the dedicated resident DJs and punters alike has kept this night afloat, with the amazing successes of their all-nighter parties it's a fantastic return to form for dance music in Hastings.