Eastbourne Pier on fire

I love piers, and it's always sad when another one bites the dust. My favourite is at Saltburn, with its quaint cliff lift. I remember sitting very quietly at the end of the pier on Sunday mornings, hardly daring to breathe, while my dad and lots of other old giffers (to a man with flat cap and pipe or fag in mouth) fished from it. Before that we’d join other locals scraping up sea coal from the beach, using some wooden contraptions on a stick my dad had made. We used to take it home in buckets, dry it out, then pack it in cones of newspaper and use them on the open fire. Probably not the best of money saving ideas, as you used to think when a scrap of red hot mussel shell would explode out and zip past your face of an evening.

We don`t have piers over here in N Ireland anything like those in England and it was so sad to see it burning. Let`s hope the powers that be find the money and it is rebuilt. Sorry about Northfield Manor the Cadbury family home we were in the confectionery business for many years and DH has fond memories of visiting Bournville the Cadbury village built for their workers.

I found it very sad. Also found it sad to read today (this is only interesting I suspect if you are local to Birmingham) that Northfield Manor, built in 1820 and home to the Cadbury family from then until the 1920s, was burnt down last night in a suspected arson attack. It was a beautiful building which was allowed to fall into decay and was derelict. Sorry to veer off track.

I was sitting on St. Leonard's Beach and saw all the smoke across the water, and got out my binoculars as couldn't believe it was a BBQ gone wrong. Later on the News I saw what it was. How sad, our Hastings Pier burnt down a few years ago, although with much hard work from the Save Hastings Pier Group it is to be rebuilt again. I expect Eastbourne will also have good people ready to save their heritage.
Milly

I saw a fortune teller on Brighton Pier just after my marriage in 1956. She said I would have 3 children, she told my husband he would have 2 children. I thought what a load of rubbish but she was right.

Sorry

They restored Southend pier after a fire. We could see the flames from that across the estuary in Kent.
I was sad to see Eastbourne pier burning.

They restored Southend pier after a fire. We could see the flames from that across the estuary in Kent.
I was sad to see Eastbourne pier burning.

Weston-Super-Mare`s pier was rebuilt after it burned down, so maybe there`s hope for Eastbourne, sadly, I`ve never been there.

What a shame! Piers aren't something we do now, so once they're gone they're gone.

My first ever holiday job in 1963 was on Ventnor Pier in the ice cream kiosk. I was heartbroken when, many years later, it burned down.

So sorry to read about Eastbourne pier, we were there on the beach right in front of it last Wednesday, a glorious day just like today. I've a feeling one of Brighton's piers went the same way.

I love piers; I hope nothing ever happens to Clevedon Pier [my favourite]. Do they have piers in other countries?

We were there yesterday and my husband was telling me how easy it was for pier's to burn down. I can't remember the reason something to do with all that wood..I was only pretending to listen ( you know when you make all those positive noises) I did enjoy the pier and am sorry it's burning. It wasn't us...honest

I hate it when we lose our historic piers to fire. I do hope they can save Easbourne Pier.