Aberystwyth Royal Pier.....

We had a drive down to Aberystwyth Sea front this morning mainly to get the pier as the cloud structure was quite good, but as we drove on the clouds merged into one and thus not quite a good shot as I had hoped.

A bit of history for you if your interested..

The 800 foot pier was built in 1864 for the Aberystwyth Pier Company and was opened on Good Friday 1865 having cost £13,600. The designer was Eugenius Birch and the contractor was J.E.Dawson.

In 1866, 100 foot was washed away but repairs and re-strengthening were carried out and the pier re-opened in 1872.

On 26th July 1896, an £8000 pavilion, designed by G.Croydon Marks and erected by the Bourne Engineering & Electrical Co., was opened by the Prince of Wales. It could accommodate 3000 people. In 1915, the Borough Council leased the pier.

In 1938, the pier suffered severe storm damage and, by the 1970s, the pier-neck had decayed and was closed to the public. The pavilion, however, remained open.

In 1979, the pier came under the control of Don Leisure Ltd., who are the current owners. In 1986, over £500,000 was spent updating and improving the pier. Despite receiving planning approval, a scheme to build a new pier alongside the existing structure came to nothing. However, a new restaurant and snooker club were opened in 1987.

Access to the remains of the pier-neck and open decking was unavailable for a number of years due to fire safety issues. Happily these have now been resolved and access is now once again possible..

Lets hope so soon anyhow.