Saltburn Pier

Saltburn Pier

Type	Pleasure
Carries	pedestrians
Spans	North Sea
Locale	Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Redcar and Cleveland
Owner	Redcar and Cleveland
Characteristics
Construction	hardwood decking on iron piles
Total length	242 metres (794 ft)
History
Designer	John Anderson
Opening date	1865

Saltburn Pier is a pier located in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, Redcar and Cleveland and the ceremonial county of North Yorkshire, England.

Background

The Stockton and Darlington Railway arrived in Saltburn from Redcar on August 17, 1861, prompting a growth in day trippers and holiday travellers.

The engineer for the railway line was John Anderson, who saw the investment opportunities in the new town, buying land from the Saltburn Improvement Company. He bought plots in Milton and Amber Streets, as well as Brittania Terrace/Marine Drive - both now Marine Parade - where he designed and erected the Alexandria Hotel. Appointed resident engineer of the SIC in 1867, he designed the town's sewerage system.

Construction

In 1867, Anderson formed the Saltburn Pier Company, to undertake construction of a suitable pier. Contracted as designer and chief design engineer, Anderson followed the new pier format developed by Eugenius Birch in his ground breaking design for Margate Pier, by specifying iron screw-piles to support a metal frame and wooden deck.

Like many seaside resorts, this created a local business initiative, resulting in various pieces of construction, including the Satburn Pier completed in 1869. But access to the pier from the town via the steep cliff top was difficult, so a solution was sought.

The Saltburn Pier company contracted John Anderson to engineer a solution, which was the wooden Cliff Hoist. Allowing up to 20 people to be placed in a wooden cage and then lowered by rope to beach level, it opened on July 1, 1870, some 14 months after the opening of the pier. Approached from the town by a narrow walkway, the passengers then descended 120 feet (37 m), after water had been added to or taken away from a counterbalance tank.

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As a railway contractor John Anderson was associated with the Stockton and Darlington and the South Durham and Lancashire Union Railways and was one of the first to become involved in the emerging ironstone industry in 1848. In Saltburn he saw the opportunity of making an investment and became one of the principal developers of the land put on the market by the Saltburn Improvement Company being one of the first to buy plots of land in Milton and Amber Streets. His most important acquisition was the site on Brittania Terrace/Marine Drive - both now Marine Parade - where he erected the 'Alexandria Hotel', the second most important hotel in the town. In January 1867 he was appointed resident engineer of the company and in the same year he formed the Saltburn Pier Company, for which he was both engineer and contractor.

In December 1867 Chochrane and Grove of Ormesby delivered the first consignment of ironwork. Although the Board of Trade did not grant a provisional order for the construction of the pier until 6th April 1868 and the land and foreshore for the pier were not conveyed to the company until 3rd July 1868, the Newcastle Courant, Friday 3rd January 1868, reported that the first pile was driven in by Mrs Thomas Vaughan of Gunnergate Hall on the (previous) Monday (30th December).

The pier was opened to the public in May 1869, and to ease the access to the pier and promenade from the town, work was begun on a 120 foot high wooden vertical hoist, also designed by John Anderson. The hoist was in operation fourteen months after the opening of the pier.

The pier proved to be an immediate success with over 50,000 visitors paying to stroll upon it during its first six months.

Consisting of iron trestles under a wooden deck, the pier was built to a length of 1500ft. There was a steamer landing stage at the head of the pier and two circular kiosks at the entrance. On May 14th 1870 two steamers operated a service from the pier to Middlesbrough whilst a band performed on the pier head. In the following month there were further steamer trips to both Middlesbrough and Hartlepool and an excursion to Scarborough aboard the Victor. The company also gained revenue from advertising spaces on the pier for 5s per annum. This early success enabled the Pier Company to announce profitable dividends for its shareholders and by October 1873 it was announced that all the shares had been disposed of.

During 1873 it was decided to build a saloon at the pier head - as had been originally intended - and to provide gas lighting along the length of the pier. 1874 also proved to be reasonably successful and at Whitsun 1875 it was reported that 'the whole stretch of the 1,500ft promenade appeared to be literally alive all day'

Unfortunately the first of numerous disasters struck the pier during the night of 21/22 October 1875 when horrific gales struck and 300ft of the sea end of the pier was washed away taking out the pier head, the landing stage and part of the pier deck.

The damage was repaired but, at a time when development of the town had halted due to a slump in the iron trade, the company decided that the lost section of the pier along with the landing stage - which had rarely been used - was not to be rebuilt. The subsequent alterations reduced the length of the pier to 1250ft. The pier re-opened in 1877 but the heavy debt incurred by the Pier Company led it to be wound up in December 1879. The Pier and hoist were sold at auction at the Alexandra Hotel for £800 in 1880.

The new owners were the Saltburn Improvement Company who themselves had been acquired by the Owners of the Middlesbrough Estates following the formation of the Local Board in 1880 to administer the town. The new owners carried out a number of improvements to the pier in 1884. The pier head was widened and windshields, a bandstand, and refreshment rooms were added. The entrance kiosks were replaced by two larger buildings designed to match the style of the entrance to the new incline tramway which was built to replace the hoist. One kiosk was used as a cafe and the other as ladies and gentlemen's cloakrooms.

On 20th July 1887 the gas lighting was replaced and the pier was illuminated for the first time by electric lighting. Saltburn blossomed into a popular resort during the later Victorian, early Edwardian period. The pier itself provided genteel band concerts during the summer months and bracing promenading over the water.

The pier-head suffered further storm damage in 1900 but escaped relatively unharmed for the next twenty years until May 1924 the china clay vessel 'Ovenbeg' (formerley the Russian registered St Nicholi) collided with the west side of the pier causing a great deal of damage leaving a gap of 210ft. A barrier was erected at the end of the shortened pier which enabled the remainder of the structure to still be used for promenading. The bandstand was, however, now inaccessible. On 30th March 1929 it was announced that the gap was to be repaired and a theatre was built at the shore entrance for dancing, concert shows and meetings. The damage caused by the collision was finally repaired, five years later, in 1930 and the full length of the pier was re-opened.

Purchased by the local council in 1938, Saltburn Pier, along with others like it, was sectioned in 1940 for fear of German invasion. By the end of the war the pier was in a very poor condition. A planning application to repair the pier was granted on 13 April 1949 but, due to the shortage of steel, restoration and repair work was not commenced until 1951 and the pier was finally re-opened to the public in April 1952 (the official opening took place on 31st May 1952) with over 25,000 visitors using it during the first month.

Severe gales hit again the following year and badly twisted the whole structure resulting in repairs estimated at £23,000. These took a further five years to complete, but no sooner had the pier reopened than two piles were lost at the seaward end costing a further £6,000 to replace. In 1961 another twenty piles were badly twisted in exceptional storms. Despite these problems the pier remained a popular attraction throughout the sixties with up to 90,000 people using it.

The 1970s were no kinder in Saltburn Pier's history. In 1971, 1973 and 1974 piles were lost at the seaward end leaving the pier in a dangerous state. As emergency plans were being drawn up to save the pier, a severe gale on 29th October 1974 washed away the pier-head, badly damaged the remainder of the deck and reduced the length of the pier to 1,100ft. Finally, in 1975, the local council submitted an application to the Department of the Environment to have the pier demolished.

Saltburn Pier continued it’s fight for survival when a public enquiry concluded that only the last thirteen trestles should be removed and the remainder of the structure should be restored. The pier, now reduced in length to 681ft (206m), was completely refurbished, reopening to the public on 29th June 1978 after a closure of five years. The following year the buildings at the pier entrance were restored. The 1950's cladding was removed and new cladding designed to reflect the Victorian/Edwardian character of the pier was introduced.

Further restoration work was carried in the early 1990s when the entrance-building roof was renewed. With the new millenium and the aid of National Lottery Grant funding Saltburn pier underwent a major restoration programme designed to return it to its former glory. The grant enabled the cast iron trestles that support the pier to be conserved to reinforce the structure and the steel deck beams were replaced with traditional hardwood timber to reflect the pier’s original appearance. Access to the pier was improved through the use of an inclined path that provides step-free access. It was officially re-opened to the public on 13th July 2001. The success of the pier restoration has been widely acknowledged, and the pier, along with the town’s cliff lift, won a top placing in the Queen’s Golden Jubilee Heritage

This year Saltburn Pier won the National Pier Society's Pier of the Year award. Many articles have since appeared in both local and national newspapers. The article in this pamphlet, written by Sophie Campbell, appeared in the Telegraph, published 21st August 2009.

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« Previous « Previous Next » Next » View Gallery ADVERTISEMENT Click here to find out more! Published Date: 06 May 2009 Yorkshire's only remaining seaside pleasure pier has been voted number one in the country. Chris Foote Wood, who has visited all of them, reports.

Saltburn Pier, its shoreside buildings resplendent in their distinctive red and while livery, is now fully restored to its original 140 year-old design. But it has had a turbulent history. It has been closed several times through storm and ship damage and even to deter invasion in the Second World War.

At one time demolition threatened. Yet it has come through to gain its current Grade II* listed status and now national recognition. Each year the 600-plus members of the National Piers Society, founded under Sir John Betjeman in 1979, vote for their favourite pier of the 55 still standing around the coasts of England and Wales (none in Scotland). There are no application forms and no manifestoes for this annual election; each member simply votes for his or her own preference. Saltburn, the runner-up in 2006, narrowly beat off rival piers at Yarmouth (Isle of Wight) and Bangor Garth in North Wales to claim this year's crown. Saltburn's win is all the more remarkable as the great majority of Britain's seaside piers – and NPS members – are in the south of England. The award, which was instituted in 1997 following the Year of the Pier, will be presented at the Society's AGM in Penarth, South Wales on June 13.

Seaside piers have been a passion for me ever since as a six-year-old I was taken by my grandparents onto Blackpool North Pier. The sight of the waves dashing below my feet through the cracks in the wooden deck was exciting and dangerous.

I became even more fascinated with piers when I looked over the side and saw another pier – Blackpool Central – further down the beach. "Can we go there too?" I asked, only to get the haughty reply from my "posh" Nana: "No, that's not the sort of place we want to go". (Blackpool North Pier had a "superior" cachet, and still has.)

That was in 1947, and in 2007 I finally got round to undertaking my long-held ambition to visit every seaside pier in Britain. I did so both for my own pleasure and to research and write a book on all our remaining piers.

It was far too late in the day to see others that once existed in Yorkshire. The 1,000ft (305m) Scarborough North Pier, designed by the doyen of pier designers Eugenius Birch, was opened on May 1, 1869. It was demolished after being almost entirely destroyed by a severe storm on January 7, 1905.

Other former seaside pleasure piers – not to be confused with harbour groins – on the Yorkshire coast once existed at Withernsea (1877-1903), Hornsea (1880-1897), Redcar (1873-1981) and Coatham (1875-1899). Yorkshire has had fewer seaside pleasure piers than other parts of the country mainly due to the ravages of the North Sea. Other regions have fared better thanks to gently sloping beaches and more sheltered locations. The railways played their part, and piers were often built close to railway stations. Victorian pier owners often had shares in railway and steamer companies, as well as having an interest in nearby pubs, hotels and theatres – entrepreneurs all.

As to their finances and viability today, piers fall roughly into four categories. First, there's the out-and-out commercial – like Brighton (Palace) Pier and Blackpool South and Central Piers which are entirely given over to amusements, much to the disgust of some pier purists. But piers were built to make money.

At the other end of the scale there are piers which are owned and lovingly kept by voluntary effort, such as Clevedon and Mumbles, and which in general avoid commercial clutter. In between are piers with an uncertain future, often family-owned, which are part-commercial, and finally there are piers owned by local councils who maintain them as visitor attractions – Bournemouth and Boscombe being good examples. Living in County Durham, it was only natural that I should have started my original researches with Saltburn Pier, and Saltburn was again the starting point for my second book last year. Tony Lynn, chairman of the Friends of Saltburn Pier, gave great support and help on both occasions. Of the new award he says: "We are absolutely delighted. This is a thank-you to all the people who for many years have worked so hard every time the pier has come under threat. Saltburn Pier is still fulfilling its original purpose in that people can still take a 'walk over the waves'. In October 2005 the pier was greatly enhanced by the installation of lighting which illuminates the pier at night from underneath, a stunning sight and a photographer's paradise." The NPS President, Gavin Henderson, said: "Sincere congratulations to Saltburn – Yorkshire's only surviving pier and a worthy winner".

It is owned by Redcar and Cleveland Council. Councillor Sheelagh Clarke, their culture, tourism and leisure cabinet member, said: "This award recognises the hard work and commitment of many people who were involved in the pier restoration and shows what true partnership can achieve."

Each pier has its own distinct character and personality. Saltburn's great strengths are its simplicity, clean classic lines and lack of clutter without any garish amusements. It also has the asset of a water-powered cliff lift, one of only three such in the country and the oldest in the world still working. The durability of its Victorian construction is proven by its massive brake wheel which was replaced recently after operating for 128 years without a single failure.

Saltburn Pier was opened in May 1869. It was 1,500ft (458m) long and had a steamer landing stage. The pier was part of the development of what had been a small fishing village into a popular seaside resort following the extension of the Stockton and Darlington railway to Saltburn. It was designed and built by local man John Anderson who also built the Alexandra Hotel on the seafront. Anderson formed the Saltburn-by-the-Sea Pier Co in October 1867 and was both designer and contractor for the project.

The ironwork was provided by the Ormesby Foundry Co. The first pile was driven on January 27, 1868, and the pier was opened in May 1869. The new pier was a great success, attracting more than 50,000 visitors in its first month.

The pier has suffered storm damage several times, and in May 1924 it was severed by the ship Ovenbeg. This left a 210ft gap which took six years to repair. During the Second World War the pier was "sectioned" by having part of the deck removed by the Royal Engineers to guard against German invasion.

The pier re-opened in April 1952, but was badly damaged by a storm the following year. Rebuilding work was not completed until 1958, and there was yet more storm damage in 1959 and again in 1961, 1971 and 1973 when the pier was closed. In 1975 the local council, which had bought the pier in 1938, applied for listed building consent to demolish it. A Save the Pier campaign led to a public inquiry which found that only 13 trestles at the end of the structure needed to be removed.

Saltburn Pier reopened in June 1978, and a café was added in 1979. In 1993, the roof was renewed and restored to its early 20th century condition using Welsh and Westmorland slate.

In 2000, a £1.2m Heritage Lottery Fund grant funded a complete restoration of the pier and a return to its original appearance, albeit much shorter at its present length of 681ft (206m), but with its listed building status upgraded from Grade II to Grade II*. The pier was reopened on July 13, 2001 by Chris Smith MP, former Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, who had been very supportive as a minister. The National Piers Society held its AGM at Saltburn in 2003.

As the pound plunges, more people are holidaying at home and the British seaside holiday is making a comeback. It means our seaside pleasure piers are enjoying more popularity than they have had for decades.