North Pier, Blackpool

North Pier

Blackpool's North Pier, viewed from the top of Blackpool Tower
Official name	North Pier
Type	Pleasure Pier with Landing Jetty
Design	Eugenius Birch
Construction	Blackpool Pier Company
Total length	1,650 feet (500 m)
Opening date	21 May 1863
Coordinates	53°49′08″N 3°03′33″W / 53.8190°N 3.0593°W / 53.8190; -3.0593Coordinates: 53°49′08″N 3°03′33″W / 53.8190°N 3.0593°W / 53.8190; -3.0593

North Pier is the oldest and largest of the three coastal piers in Blackpool, England. It has been designated by English Heritage as a Grade II listed building.^[1]

Location

The pier's name derives from the fact that it is the northernmost of Blackpool's three piers. It is actually located only about 400 metres to the north of Blackpool Tower which acts as a rough representative of Blackpool's midpoint. The sea front is particularly straight and flat and so the pier's 500-metre length simply extends at a right angle to the coastline, more or less level with the promenade. There previously was an admission charge of 50 pence to access the board-walk section of the pier before 5:30pm, but it is now free admission.

History

North Pier was officially opened on 21 May 1863 with a grand ceremony attended by over 20,000 visitors. It was the second of the fourteen piers designed by Eugenius Birch (the first being Margate Pier), and is now the oldest of the few remaining examples of his work still in use. It was also the first of Birch's piers to be built by engineering firm Richard Laidlaw and Son of Glasgow.

Although the pier was primarily for leisure rather than seafaring, a landing jetty was built at the end in incremental stages between 1864 and 1867. These works increased the pier's length to its current 500 metres. The pier company themselves made use of the jetty by operating steamboat trips to nearby destinations.

In 1874, Richard Knill Freeman, an architect who specialised in winner design competition, was asked to design a North Pavilion. Subsequent fires mean that nothing now remains but it is known that the building was called the "Indian Pavilion" due to its decoration.^[2]

North Pier was heavily adapted during the last quarter of the nineteenth century; both the "head" of the pier (the extreme seaward end) and the connection with the shore were widened to include music performance facilities and shops. The facilities, although repaired or reconstructed as necessary, remained much the same until the 1960s when the "Merrie England Bar" and an amusement arcade were constructed at the shore end of the pier. By this point, the pier had long since ceased to have any nautical use, but the jetty section was adapted for use as a helicopter pad in the late 1980s. A small tramway was also added to ease access to the views and facilities of the pierhead.

Blackpool North Pier entrance sign

As mentioned above, North Pier is one of the few remaining examples of Birch's classic architecture and as such it now enjoys the status of a Grade II Listed building. It was also recognised as "Pier of the Year" in 2004 by the National Piers Society.

Construction and repair

The bulk of the pier is constructed from cast iron with a wooden deck laid on top. The cast iron piles on which the structure rests were inserted using Birch's screw pile process; the screw-tipped piles were twisted into the sand until they hit bedrock. This made construction much quicker and easier and guaranteed that the pier had a solid foundation.

However, the structure has been damaged several times since it was built. It suffered a collision in 1892, and a moored vessel (Nelson's former flagship, HMS Foudroyant) further damaged the pier in 1897 when it was driven onto Blackpool Sands and wrecked by a severe storm. The pierhead theatres have been particularly susceptible to fires; the 1874 Indian Pavilion was destroyed by fire, as was its replacement. The 1939 theatre, still in use, narrowly avoided a similar end in 1985 when the early stages of a fire were noticed in time by performer Vince Hill. Storms on 24 December 1997 destroyed most of the landing jetty, resulting in the shortening of the pier.^[3] The pier's sign was damaged in a fire in February 2008,^[4] and again in March 2010.^[5]

Pier Sold

In April 2011, the pier was sold to Blackpool family firm Sedgwick's, which owns amusement arcades and the big wheel on Blackpool's Central Pier. New owner Peter Sedgwick said he wanted to restore the Victorian heritage of the pier and re-instate the pier's tram. Sedgwick said he wanted to "keep the heritage of the pier" and said the previously paid-for attraction would now have free admission. "The vision for it is to redecorate it and keep it Victorian," he added.^[6] The Theatre is currently being updated and the changing rooms behind the stage are having a makeover (Autumn 2011)and it is hoped top stars will be attracted to the venue.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Blackpool's Central Pier
• Blackpool's South Pier

References

1. ^ "North Pier, Blackpool", The National Heritage List for England (English Heritage), 2011, http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1205766, retrieved 8 June 2011 
2. ^ Blackpool Theatres, blackpoolgrand.co.uk, retrieved February 2011
3. ^ "December 1997". Irish Sea Shipping (Archives). http://www.irishseashipping.com/archives/news/1997/MS1297.html. Retrieved 2008-04-15. ^{[dead link]}
4. ^ "Fire crews tackle resort pier fire". Blackpool Gazette. http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/North-Pier-sign-damaged-in.3755631.jp. Retrieved 2008-04-15. 
5. ^ "Blackpool pier fire drama". Blackpool Gazette. http://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/blackpoolnews/Blackpool-pier-fire-drama.6168944.jp. Retrieved 2010-03-21. 
6. ^ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-12938948

External links

• Blackpool's North Pier History
• Engineering timelines - Details of the pier's construction
• http://citytransport.info/B-Piera.htm - Some photographs of the diesel tramway on the pier.