The Palace Pier

Brighton's

The Palace Pier

The Palace Pier in Brighton started its life as an old chain pier in 1823. The pier was mainly use as a landing stage for passenger ships that sailed from Dieppe in France. The owners of the chain pier realized the potential of the pier and started charging a fee of 2d to walk along the pier. The owners also decided to add some kiosks, selling souvenirs and confectionery along with entertainment stalls that featured fortune tellers and silhouettists. This prove very popular and fashionable with the public. When the pier was open which was less often that you would think. This was because of the major storms that battered the pier over the next ten years from 1824 to 1834. The storms caused irreparable damage to the piers structure. When the storms had finally finished the pier carried on as a fashionable and popular attraction for another 55 years

 In 1889 the Pier was sold to The Marine Palace &Pier Company. Later on that year in early December the pier was totally destroyed again by a raging storm. Over the next decade The Marine Palace & Pier Company suffered lots of set backs. One storm resulted in the old chain pier being completely washed away and they had to start again. There were lots of building and construction work going in that ten year period, till the pier was finally finished in1899. The Palace Pier officially opened on the 20^th May 1899 and the final cost for all the building and construction work was £27,000. This was a small fortune at that time in history. The open night saw the pier lit up with 3,000 light bulbs on the steel arches, which still can be seen today by the Palm Court and the fish and chip restaurant.

In 1905 it was thought that the pier would benefit from having some amusements machines installed on it. The amusements became a great success and put Brighton on the map for being the first to have the latest video games and amusements. The pier was the first place in England to have the video game Space Invaders in stalled. This was back in the eighties. After the amusements came the idea to build a concert hall. The hall open in 1907 and by 1911 it had become a theatre, which was a big success. Over the years Brighton Palace Pier has developed by introducing all sorts of entertainment. There was a bandstand that stage free concerts throughout the summer months. The theatre hall brought to Brighton a wealth of stars including Dick Emery, Tommy Trinder and Doris &Elsie Waters throughout the summer months. They all played at the theatre well into the late 1970's.

These days the pier is still a great place to go and visit. On a warm summer day with a gentle breeze or on a warm summers evening. The pier with its fun fair, arcades and restaurants as become a great British tradition. Just to go and walk along the pier admiring the view and taking in that lovely clean fresh sea air. A chance to get away from hustle and bustle of the city life and do something different for a change. If you have the chance to visit Brighton I highly recommender to visit the Palace Pier.