Brighton's West Pier (PiP)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bms-sYfLqpA

The West Pier is a pier in Brighton, England. It was designed by Eugenius Birch, opening in 1866 and closing in 1975. The pier was the first to be Grade I listed in Britain but has become increasingly derelict since closure.

The pier was constructed during a boom in pleasure pier building in the 1860s, and was designed to attract tourism in Brighton. It was the town's second pier, joining the Royal Suspension Chain Pier of 1823. It was extended in 1893, and a concert hall was added in 1916. The pier reached its peak attendance during this time, with 2 million visitors between 1918 and 1919. Its popularity began to decline after World War II, and concerts were replaced by a funfair and tearoom. A local company took ownership in 1965, but could not meet the increased maintenance cost, and ultimately filed for bankruptcy. They could not find a suitable buyer, so the pier closed in 1975 and subsequently fell into disrepair.

The West Pier Trust now owns the pier and has proposed various plans to renovate it. Some schemes have been opposed by local residents and the owners of the nearby Palace Pier, who have claimed unfair competition. The pier gradually collapsed during the early 21st century. Major sections collapsed in late 2002, and two fires in March and May 2003 left little of the original structure. Subsequently, English Heritage declared it to be beyond repair. Structured demolition took place in 2010 to make way for the observation tower i360; further structural damage from storms has occurred since. (from Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Pier )

A personal note: I have now returned from a journey to Southern England and, of course, I will start uploading pictures from this trip regularly soon. However, answering to comments that have been made to my pictures in the meantime and visiting and commenting on my friends' picutres will still take some time and may never be completed. Thank you for your understanding.

Eine persönliche Erklärung: ich bin nun von einer 2-wöchigen Rundreise durch Südengland zurückgekehrt und natürlich werde ich bald regelmäßig Bilder von dieser Reise hochladen. Allerdings wird es noch länger dauern bis ich all die Kommentare zu meinen Bildern beantworte, die in der Zwischenzeit gemacht wurden, genauso wie der Besuch bei den Galerien meiner Fotofreunde. Vielen Dank für euer Verständnis!