There goes another one…
And there goes Eastbourne Pier (photo nicked from the Mail).
It was one of three East Sussex Victorian pleasure piers designed by Eugenius Birch (1818-1884). The first was Brighton’s West Pier, completed in 1866. Burned down in two separate arson attacks in March and May, 2003.
The third was Hastings Pier, finished in 1872. Burned in 2010. Two were arrested for arson, but they never brought them up on charges.
Eastbourne Pier was finished the same year as West Pier. Bits of it have burned before, but this looks really, really devastating. There’s a big airshow in Eastbourne every August, and the pier is a favorite place to stand and watch the aereoplanes.
Nobody’s mentioned arson this time, but you can’t help but wonder. At any rate, it’s been awful seeing these three grand Victorian dames go up in flames.
Posted: July 30th, 2014 under britain, personal.
Comments: 11
Comments
Comment from QuasiModo
Time: July 30, 2014, 10:34 pm
That’s sad…looked like a nice place…hopefully they’ll rebuild it.
Comment from Nina
Time: July 31, 2014, 3:37 am
Why people burn things like this down escapes me.
Comment from mojo
Time: July 31, 2014, 6:31 am
I was in Cleveland at the time, and I can prove it!
Comment from Bob Mulroy
Time: July 31, 2014, 10:43 am
“aereoplanes”
You get Englisher and Englisher every day.
Dirty rotten shame about the pier. A little bit of heritage dies every day.
Comment from Some Vegetable
Time: July 31, 2014, 1:27 pm
I happened to be listening to the Beeb (which I do a lot recently) and heard the report of the fire. They were suggesting (at that time) that the fire might have started in an electrical panel in an Arcade. I hope that is true. I have had quite enough of man’s inhumanity to man lately and I couldn’t bear the idea of deliberate arson here. Let’s start blaming God for a while instead.
By the way, has anyone else ever heard of the old radio series,
“It Sticks out Half A Mile” ?
It immediately popped into mind when I first heard of this fire.
Comment from East Asia
Time: July 31, 2014, 2:21 pm
There’s something wrong with me, i get all weepy and sentimental when buildings (and businesses) die. 🙁
Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: July 31, 2014, 2:57 pm
Bob Mulroy – this is true. OTOH I found myself saying ‘airplane’ yesterday.. and nearly handed in my passport.
Comment from Pupster
Time: July 31, 2014, 6:13 pm
C’mon over, Badger. We can squat on The Weasel Ancestral Acreage in TN and eat snakes.
I may be moving to Nashville, Stoaty. Been going down there for work for almost 3 years, starting to make more sense to live there than to commute from OH HI OH.
Comment from Deborah
Time: July 31, 2014, 6:59 pm
I love airshows, especially one with warbirds. If I had bags of money, I’d buy a B-25, a Hawker Hurricane, and a C-47.
Comment from scr_north
Time: July 31, 2014, 9:07 pm
Very sad. My mother lived in Brighton for some time during WW2 and I recall her talking about a pier. Any reason why there were never charges/trial for the Hastings Pier job?
Comment from Uncle Badger
Time: August 1, 2014, 10:09 pm
Bad news. They’ve just reported that the Eastbourne fire may have been arson, after all 🙁
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