The seaside has been attracting visitors since before the Victorian era with the promise of healthy sea air, sea bathing and a pleasant escape from the urban scene. In 1907 this allure was made famous by music hall songwriter John H. Glover-Kind in his song I Do Like to Be Beside the Seaside which contains memorable and hummable verses like this:
Oh! I do like to be beside the seaside!
I do like to be beside the sea!
Oh I do like to stroll along the Prom, Prom, Prom!
Where the brass bands play, “Tiddely-om-pom-pom!”
The advent of railways and paid holiday for the working classes in the 19th century made a short seaside break affordable and accessible to more than just the wealthy, creating a legacy of amenities and attractions to please everyone that we can still enjoy today. Jetties where boats and ships could dock had already been around for centuries, but a tradition of promenading along them was begun by the well-to-do in the 18th century. People could dress in their finery and get close the waves without the risks, and seasickness, of sailing. The only danger was probably getting splashed by a strong wave, or perhaps a hat taken by the wind.
People with a head for business spotted an opportunity for a pier that could be enjoyed as a destination in its own right while serving as a landing stage for paddle-steamers. For those arriving at a destination by sea it was surely preferable to the indignity of being carried piggyback by a porter and walking over wet sand – a method of arrival in some locations without a jetty.
In a historic moment, Britain’s first pleasure pier opened in 1814 at Ryde on the Isle of Wight. A few were then built around England between the 1830s and 1850s, but the mania for constructing these iconic sights peaked between 1860 and 1900. Though Wales opened its first pier at Beaumaris on Anglesey in 1846, South Wales was late to the party. Eventually four were built in the south during the 1890s, of which only two remain.
Penarth led the way for the region with a somewhat plain structure in 1895, starting construction the year before for the Penarth Promenade & Landing Pier Company. In comparison to other piers it had minimal amenities, and to some consternation was misrepresented in an advert published in 1892 showing a reading room, gym and bandstand. Not only didn’t it have those things, it hadn’t been built at the time!
The 658ft long pier enjoyed success during the paddle-steamer’s heyday until the First World War. Entertainment was limited and band performances were held under canvas should the weather warrant it, otherwise in the open air. Several years passed before a pavilion was built at the pier head in 1907 – known as the Bijou Pavilion, it later became a dance hall. At the end of the Roaring Twenties in 1929 an impressive three storey art deco pavilion at the pier’s entrance endowed it with an imposing appearance adorned by four cupola topped towers. An entrance to the pavilion sits between a colonnade style frontage while access to walk over the waves is on either side. This modern design set it apart from many of England’s piers whose pavilions often exhibited a mix of Victorian and foreign influences.
Over in Mumbles, a longer pier of 835ft was built in 1898 for the Swansea and Mumbles Railway, with trains running up to the terminus by the land end of the pier until 1960. Mumbles Pier has an unassuming entrance compared to Penarth’s, but the pier is not without attraction. While strolling along it visitors are treated to a sweeping view of Swansea bay, plus there’s a pavilion on land which offers refreshments, bowling, amusements and even a nightclub. Unlike the handful of piers having a lifeboat station at the end, here it’s on an offshoot structure at a right angle to the main pier.
Expanding the south’s number of piers, the pretty town of Tenby was chosen for the third. Stretching a rather short 370ft, the Royal Victoria Pier had a striking appearance – its steel arches giving the impression of a bridge to nowhere. Opened in 1897, it was designed as a landing point usable at any tide level for paddle-steamers sailing between Wales, Somerset and Devon. The official opening actually took place two years later when the pier head was extended. Unlike other piers of the time, it wasn’t designed for pleasure. In addition to the landing stage for embarking and disembarking steamer passengers, the main activities on offer were promenading, fishing and a summer band concert at the pier head.
Sadly, a lack of maintenance sealed the Royal Victoria Pier’s fate since seawater takes a toll on piers whether their piles are made from wood or iron. Before the Second World War it was already falling into disrepair, but after the war its condition was so parlous that it remained closed and finally got dismantled in the 1950s after the council decided not to step in and fund repairs. All that remains at the site is a lifeboat station completed in 2005.
The last South Wales pier acted as a breakwater. Built in 1898 by the Port Talbot Railway & Docks Company on the Aberavon coast, the 900ft North Pier was turned into a pleasure pier four years later when the district council took ownership. For this purpose railings and turnstiles were added.
Unfortunately the North Pier suffered a similar fate to the one at Tenby as its condition deteriorated while closed during the war. It was given a new life in the 1960s by concrete replacing the timbers, turning it back into a breakwater, albeit one which can’t be walked on and is fenced off. An online petition has been created which asks the current owner (Associated British Ports) to “reconsider undertaking resurfacing and general upkeep along with installing safety railings of Aberavon pier but above all else, take the security gate away and to return its use back to the local community with access to all.” Time will tell.
South Wales may no longer boast four piers, but the seaside tradition remains for anyone who ventures to the two biggest cities of Cardiff and Swansea. Who could forget eating fish & chips, enjoying and ice cream and viewing the sea and land from the vantage point of a pier?
