0:00:06 > 0:00:11# Powder your face with sunshine
0:00:11 > 0:00:15# Put on a great big smile
0:00:15 > 0:00:17The story of the seaside pier
0:00:17 > 0:00:20is the story of many of our seaside resorts.
0:00:21 > 0:00:23Birth,
0:00:23 > 0:00:25glorious heyday,
0:00:25 > 0:00:27decline,
0:00:27 > 0:00:29and demise.
0:00:37 > 0:00:40It's a familiar tale, repeated all around the coast.
0:00:44 > 0:00:46But while many people believe
0:00:46 > 0:00:48the golden age of the pleasure pier is over,
0:00:48 > 0:00:50one town has other ideas.
0:00:50 > 0:00:53MUSIC: "Pretty Vacant" by The Sex Pistols
0:00:56 > 0:01:00Plans to resurrect its once-great seaside attraction...
0:01:04 > 0:01:06..and start a brand new chapter
0:01:06 > 0:01:09in the story of the great British pier.
0:01:09 > 0:01:11# Pretty vacant
0:01:11 > 0:01:17# And we don't care. #
0:01:26 > 0:01:29The seaside used to be a working environment,
0:01:29 > 0:01:33a place where merchants, fishermen and smugglers plied their trade,
0:01:33 > 0:01:36and soldiers stood guard against invasion.
0:01:36 > 0:01:41But in the late 18th century, change was in the salty sea air.
0:01:41 > 0:01:44Suddenly, people rediscovered the seaside
0:01:44 > 0:01:48and thought that the wonderful health-giving air would improve them,
0:01:48 > 0:01:52particularly under royal patronage during the Regency period.
0:01:52 > 0:01:54The south coast in particular became really fashionable,
0:01:54 > 0:01:57places like Brighton and Bognor and so forth.
0:01:57 > 0:01:59But along this coast, there is a real problem.
0:01:59 > 0:02:02You've got fantastic beaches, but actually, you don't have
0:02:02 > 0:02:06any harbours, so how do you get to these places before railways?
0:02:06 > 0:02:09And the solution was to build piers.
0:02:12 > 0:02:16The first seaside piers were simple wooden jetties.
0:02:18 > 0:02:20And the oldest, at Ryde on the Isle of Wight,
0:02:20 > 0:02:22is 200 years old this summer.
0:02:24 > 0:02:27It opened on July 26, 1814.
0:02:28 > 0:02:31Two more jetty piers were built in the 1820s...
0:02:33 > 0:02:36..and seven more in the 1830s,
0:02:36 > 0:02:40enabling the upper classes to walk from ship to shore
0:02:40 > 0:02:42without getting anything wet.
0:02:43 > 0:02:46It's believed that the salt water
0:02:46 > 0:02:50had lots of health benefits for your aches and pains and rheumatism.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52It was a sort of cure-all.
0:02:52 > 0:02:56It was a place where, really, the genteel could afford
0:02:56 > 0:02:59to take their retinue to have a dip in the sea,
0:02:59 > 0:03:02so you needed to have the finance and the funds
0:03:02 > 0:03:05to be able to afford a trip to the seaside.
0:03:07 > 0:03:10But with the arrival of the railways in the 1840s,
0:03:10 > 0:03:13the seaside opened up to the masses.
0:03:14 > 0:03:18People were beginning to have money, they begin to have days off.
0:03:18 > 0:03:22These places became hugely popular.
0:03:22 > 0:03:26By 1870, more than 40 resorts had a pier.
0:03:26 > 0:03:30To keep up with them, the town of Hastings needed a pier of its own,
0:03:30 > 0:03:32so turned to Eugenius Birch,
0:03:32 > 0:03:36the architect who designed Brighton's West Pier.
0:03:36 > 0:03:39For Hastings, he came up with something new:
0:03:39 > 0:03:41a pioneering pleasure pier.
0:03:41 > 0:03:44More than just a jetty that could be added to later,
0:03:44 > 0:03:48Hastings Pier would have entertainment built in.
0:03:52 > 0:03:56What's interesting about Hastings is that there is a need to put
0:03:56 > 0:03:58attractions on the pier to get people to go
0:03:58 > 0:04:01and pay the toll to walk on to the pier, and so,
0:04:01 > 0:04:03this is the first pier that Birch built
0:04:03 > 0:04:05with a pavilion at the pier head.
0:04:09 > 0:04:14Work began at three in the morning on December 18, 1869,
0:04:14 > 0:04:18with men winding a capstan to screw the pier's first column
0:04:18 > 0:04:20deep into the Wadhurst Clay below.
0:04:21 > 0:04:24It took 16 months longer than usual, because one of the problems was that,
0:04:24 > 0:04:26buried in the Wadhurst Clay,
0:04:26 > 0:04:28there are remains of this very ancient forest,
0:04:28 > 0:04:30and the birch screws were snapping on the timbers,
0:04:30 > 0:04:33and they had to actually dig out some of these timbers,
0:04:33 > 0:04:34which were four feet in diameter.
0:04:34 > 0:04:37A real feat of engineering, of conquering nature,
0:04:37 > 0:04:39which is what the Victorians were very good at.
0:04:41 > 0:04:44The Victorians were also very good at inventing things,
0:04:44 > 0:04:45like bank holidays...
0:04:47 > 0:04:50..introduced in 1871 by Sir John Lubbock.
0:04:50 > 0:04:54Initially, the grateful public called them St Lubbock's Days,
0:04:54 > 0:04:57so after two and a half years of construction,
0:04:57 > 0:05:02Hastings Pier opened on a wet August St Lubbock's Day in 1872,
0:05:02 > 0:05:05her Oriental pavilion providing entertainment
0:05:05 > 0:05:06and shelter from day one.
0:05:06 > 0:05:09It allegedly held 2,000 people.
0:05:09 > 0:05:12When you look at the postcards of it, you wonder how that was possible.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15Hastings was now a high-class resort,
0:05:15 > 0:05:18with a pier that drew in nearly half a million visitors
0:05:18 > 0:05:19in its first year.
0:05:20 > 0:05:25It was extremely successful, and by 1883, on St Lubbock's Day,
0:05:25 > 0:05:299,400 people went through the turnstile on that one day,
0:05:29 > 0:05:34so even by today's standards, that's a lot of visitors.
0:05:35 > 0:05:39It was a golden age for seaside resorts all over Britain.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42By the time St Leonards Pier opened in 1891,
0:05:42 > 0:05:44less than a mile from Hastings Pier,
0:05:44 > 0:05:46there were more than 70 piers around the country,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49and the best way to get from one to another
0:05:49 > 0:05:50was to travel by steamer.
0:05:52 > 0:05:54Something you can still do today on the Waverley,
0:05:54 > 0:05:57the only seagoing paddle steamer left in the world.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02There's a tendency for pier owners, of course, to say,
0:06:02 > 0:06:05"We want people to spend a lot of money on our pier,
0:06:05 > 0:06:07"on the funfair, we don't really want them
0:06:07 > 0:06:10"getting off the other end and going somewhere else."
0:06:10 > 0:06:11But it can work two ways.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13You can bring people on a ship to their pier,
0:06:13 > 0:06:16and on their way into town, they can spend a lot of money.
0:06:16 > 0:06:17It's all right.
0:06:17 > 0:06:20I think it is an essential component of a pier,
0:06:20 > 0:06:22because it's the historical reason
0:06:22 > 0:06:24for which piers were originally built.
0:06:30 > 0:06:34By the 1890s, pleasure piers were much more than jetties.
0:06:34 > 0:06:38They were thriving, bustling attractions, open to all.
0:06:39 > 0:06:41When you stepped onto the pier,
0:06:41 > 0:06:43you went into a sort of fantasy world.
0:06:43 > 0:06:45It was a kind of republic of fun,
0:06:45 > 0:06:49and you left behind all your social structures.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52If you were a young lady, you would be able to walk unchaperoned
0:06:52 > 0:06:55or with your female companion which, on land,
0:06:55 > 0:06:57even in a park or any other public setting,
0:06:57 > 0:07:00was a complete no-no. You didn't go anywhere,
0:07:00 > 0:07:02wherever it was, you just didn't do that.
0:07:02 > 0:07:06But what's interesting about the pier is that
0:07:06 > 0:07:08it really was a melting pot.
0:07:08 > 0:07:11The pier was the place that they really all came to.
0:07:11 > 0:07:14This was the place of entertainment, the place of pleasure,
0:07:14 > 0:07:16the focus of the seaside resorts.
0:07:20 > 0:07:22To attract a wider range of customers,
0:07:22 > 0:07:24Hastings Pier began to change.
0:07:24 > 0:07:28A bowling alley and other attractions were added.
0:07:28 > 0:07:30And during the First World War,
0:07:30 > 0:07:33the slender deck at the shoreward end was transformed
0:07:33 > 0:07:36into a huge square with a bandstand in the middle.
0:07:37 > 0:07:40The pier was now a favourite destination for soldiers
0:07:40 > 0:07:42seeking rest and recuperation.
0:07:44 > 0:07:48But in 1917, after a concert for Canadian troops
0:07:48 > 0:07:50stationed nearby, disaster struck.
0:07:52 > 0:07:55The fire, probably started by a discarded cigarette,
0:07:55 > 0:07:57destroyed the Birch pavilion.
0:08:01 > 0:08:04But the pier survived, and five years later,
0:08:04 > 0:08:08was reborn with a new, slightly shed-like pavilion
0:08:08 > 0:08:10to entertain the post-war crowds.
0:08:12 > 0:08:15Good news for local legend Biddy the Tubman,
0:08:15 > 0:08:17and his unique seafaring antics.
0:08:19 > 0:08:23The '20s and '30s were great decades for Hastings Pier.
0:08:23 > 0:08:28In one week in 1931, 56,000 people passed through the turnstiles.
0:08:31 > 0:08:35There was entertainment day and night.
0:08:35 > 0:08:37The pier grew wider still...
0:08:38 > 0:08:41..and even enjoyed a fashionable Art Deco face-lift.
0:08:43 > 0:08:47But a few years later, the surgery was much more severe.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51AIR RAID SIRENS
0:08:51 > 0:08:56The English Channel was the place where the Nazis were going to land,
0:08:56 > 0:08:59and these piers in particular were seen as places,
0:08:59 > 0:09:03very vulnerable places, where the stormtroopers would come ashore.
0:09:03 > 0:09:07And so, they were requisitioned by the military,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11and modified in such a way to stop this happening.
0:09:11 > 0:09:13What they did here and a number of other piers
0:09:13 > 0:09:16is actually just chop them in half, remove the central section,
0:09:16 > 0:09:18so even if you did land at the far end,
0:09:18 > 0:09:20you couldn't actually get ashore.
0:09:24 > 0:09:26'When the armies reached Dunkirk, it was the end.'
0:09:26 > 0:09:30The Second World War spelt death for many piers.
0:09:30 > 0:09:35In 1940, bomb damage and fire devastated St Leonards Pier.
0:09:36 > 0:09:40A storm in 1951 destroyed what was left.
0:09:43 > 0:09:47After the war, really everything kind of changed,
0:09:47 > 0:09:51but in the old days, the concert parties on the beach here,
0:09:51 > 0:09:54you'd have had the Pierrot troupes playing on the beach.
0:09:54 > 0:09:57Those were the variety shows that wouldn't go on to the pier.
0:09:57 > 0:10:01That was too low-grade for what you'd expect on the pier.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03But that then changed.
0:10:03 > 0:10:05Those concert parties, those Pierrot troupes,
0:10:05 > 0:10:10became the seaside shows that then occupied the pier theatres,
0:10:10 > 0:10:16and so, that goes on through the '50s, just up until the '60s, really,
0:10:16 > 0:10:19by which time, everything was changed again,
0:10:19 > 0:10:21people are beginning to go abroad for their holidays,
0:10:21 > 0:10:26and the piers begin to become really sort of like little fairgrounds,
0:10:26 > 0:10:28and many of the pavilions are turned into
0:10:28 > 0:10:31amusement arcades and slot machines.
0:10:31 > 0:10:36MUSIC: "Shakin' All Over" by Johnny Kidd & The Pirates
0:10:36 > 0:10:40As the frugal '50s morphed into the swinging '60s,
0:10:40 > 0:10:43the widening decks of Hastings Pier were suddenly popular
0:10:43 > 0:10:48with a new kind of customer with lots of money to spend...
0:10:48 > 0:10:52# Shakin' all over... #
0:10:52 > 0:10:53..the teenager.
0:10:57 > 0:11:00In the '60s, you didn't have very many
0:11:00 > 0:11:041,000 to 2,000 capacity venues.
0:11:04 > 0:11:05All you had was ballrooms.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08Otherwise, bands were playing in cinemas, so The Beatles
0:11:08 > 0:11:11and The Stones used to play in cinemas most of the time.
0:11:11 > 0:11:14So the ballrooms, the seaside ballroom venues,
0:11:14 > 0:11:21were a fledgling part of the UK rock and pop scene.
0:11:21 > 0:11:24MUSIC: "You Really Got Me" by The Kinks
0:11:24 > 0:11:27I remember going in the bar one time, and The Kinks were there.
0:11:27 > 0:11:30And all the bands used to drink in the bar before the gig.
0:11:30 > 0:11:34You know, you only see these people on Ready Steady Go!
0:11:34 > 0:11:35or something like that,
0:11:35 > 0:11:39and then you're in your local ballroom,
0:11:39 > 0:11:42and there they are, talking to everyone.
0:11:42 > 0:11:43I mean, that was great.
0:11:47 > 0:11:50We were spoilt in Hastings,
0:11:50 > 0:11:52because we had a lot of bands come to Hastings
0:11:52 > 0:11:55just prior to them taking off.
0:11:55 > 0:11:58A lot of the artists that appeared there in late '63, '64,
0:11:58 > 0:12:03went on to become the British Invasion in America.
0:12:03 > 0:12:06Gerry And The Pacemakers, The Hollies, people like this.
0:12:06 > 0:12:10So we saw the creme de la creme of British pop down here at the time.
0:12:12 > 0:12:15The pier ballroom was a well-used venue through the '60s,
0:12:15 > 0:12:20'70s and '80s, but the biggest crowds came for the live music,
0:12:20 > 0:12:22and some of the best gigs 60 pence could buy.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25Really significant gigs, as well.
0:12:25 > 0:12:27Pink Floyd played on the pier,
0:12:27 > 0:12:30and it was the last ever gig with Syd Barrett,
0:12:30 > 0:12:31took place on that pier.
0:12:31 > 0:12:35Joe Strummer played on the pier three days before he died.
0:12:35 > 0:12:39And then when you start to look into the stage of people's careers
0:12:39 > 0:12:41when they played on the pier. For example, Jimi Hendrix,
0:12:41 > 0:12:44it was the absolute peak of his career.
0:12:44 > 0:12:48He'd just played the Monterey Pop Festival in the June,
0:12:48 > 0:12:51and then in the October, he comes and plays on Hastings Pier, you know?
0:12:51 > 0:12:55The Sex Pistols, similarly, were at the height of their powers.
0:12:55 > 0:12:58They hadn't gone to the Sid Vicious times, they hadn't started
0:12:58 > 0:13:02the downward slope, Anarchy In The UK was about to be released.
0:13:02 > 0:13:03But for the big names of the day,
0:13:03 > 0:13:05Hastings Pier presented a unique problem...
0:13:05 > 0:13:07LOUD SCREAMING
0:13:07 > 0:13:10# The joint was rocking... #
0:13:10 > 0:13:13..how to get on and off again without being spotted.
0:13:14 > 0:13:18Legend has it that when the Rolling Stones played here in 1964,
0:13:18 > 0:13:21they were driven from Hastings police station
0:13:21 > 0:13:23in the back of an ambulance.
0:13:23 > 0:13:24A policeman opened the door,
0:13:24 > 0:13:28and the Stones rolled out as fast as they could.
0:13:28 > 0:13:30Turn round, Brian Jones,
0:13:30 > 0:13:33Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts.
0:13:33 > 0:13:35Belting out the back of the...
0:13:35 > 0:13:38And we're turning round to our mates to tell them,
0:13:38 > 0:13:42by which time it had all happened, they'd gone, and no-one believed us.
0:13:47 > 0:13:51Precisely how Jimi Hendrix got on and off the pier in 1967
0:13:51 > 0:13:54without being mobbed is a mystery.
0:13:55 > 0:13:58But one band that made a memorable entrance to the pier
0:13:58 > 0:14:02in the 1970s was Dutch rock group Golden Earring.
0:14:02 > 0:14:03MUSIC: "Radar Love" by Golden Earring
0:14:03 > 0:14:07They arrived with a quadraphonic sound system in the back of a truck,
0:14:07 > 0:14:09and nearly lost the lot to the English Channel.
0:14:09 > 0:14:13They were advised not to take the lorry onto the pier,
0:14:13 > 0:14:16but I think something was lost in translation,
0:14:16 > 0:14:19and they went on, stopped, and then there was a...
0:14:19 > 0:14:20IMITATES CREAKING
0:14:20 > 0:14:24..as the nearside rear wheels went through the deck.
0:14:25 > 0:14:29With the pier 100 years old, and beginning to feel her age,
0:14:29 > 0:14:34the last thing she needed in 1973 was a Status Quo concert,
0:14:34 > 0:14:37with more than 2,000 fans crammed into the ballroom.
0:14:40 > 0:14:42People really going for it,
0:14:42 > 0:14:46and the floor was going up and down and up and down.
0:14:46 > 0:14:48In time with the beat. We were thinking,
0:14:48 > 0:14:50"Just a little more, and we're going to be in there!"
0:14:50 > 0:14:52You know? In the sea.
0:14:55 > 0:14:58The Victorians were very good at overengineering,
0:14:58 > 0:15:00- with all their cast iron and everything.- Yeah.
0:15:00 > 0:15:03But I swear, the pier was bouncing up and down
0:15:03 > 0:15:05and I was thinking, "Oh, God!"
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Because everywhere you went on the pier,
0:15:07 > 0:15:10there were gaps between the floorboards,
0:15:10 > 0:15:11and there was nothing...
0:15:11 > 0:15:13The only thing underneath it was the sea,
0:15:13 > 0:15:15unless it was low tide and it was sand.
0:15:15 > 0:15:17In the dressing rooms, it was even worse.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21Doors didn't fit, and there certainly weren't any locks
0:15:21 > 0:15:25on anything, and they were just gaps here, there, and everywhere.
0:15:25 > 0:15:28Hastings Pier wasn't the only place feeling seasick.
0:15:28 > 0:15:30By the mid-1970s,
0:15:30 > 0:15:34many of Britain's once-thriving seaside resorts were on the decline.
0:15:34 > 0:15:37MUSIC: "Ghost Town" by The Specials
0:15:37 > 0:15:41Most people didn't go abroad until the late 1960s, 1970s,
0:15:41 > 0:15:43and that's really when the visitor numbers
0:15:43 > 0:15:46to seaside towns start to fall.
0:15:46 > 0:15:48And it's not only that, but people stop
0:15:48 > 0:15:50going to seaside towns to stay.
0:15:50 > 0:15:53They go for day trips, rather than staying visits.
0:15:53 > 0:15:55MUSIC: "The Modern World" by The Jam
0:15:55 > 0:15:56# This is a modern world
0:15:57 > 0:15:59# This is the modern world... #
0:15:59 > 0:16:03The steady drop in tourist income took a toll on all our piers.
0:16:03 > 0:16:07Those that were well-run and maintained managed to survive.
0:16:07 > 0:16:09But those that weren't...
0:16:09 > 0:16:11# This is the modern world. #
0:16:11 > 0:16:12..didn't.
0:16:12 > 0:16:18I think these two piers in some ways sum up the fates of seaside towns,
0:16:18 > 0:16:19the contrasting fates.
0:16:19 > 0:16:22In one case, there's decline, there's dereliction,
0:16:22 > 0:16:25there's falling visitor numbers, a lack of investment,
0:16:25 > 0:16:29and in the other case, it's a buzzy, successful,
0:16:29 > 0:16:33ever-changing pier, which reflects more investment
0:16:33 > 0:16:37and reflects the success, the present-day success of Brighton.
0:16:38 > 0:16:41By the turn of the new millennium, Brighton,
0:16:41 > 0:16:45like its old Palace Pier, had enjoyed a change in fortunes.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49But Hastings Pier was struggling on.
0:16:49 > 0:16:53In 2004, having survived major storms and several owners,
0:16:53 > 0:16:56the ailing pier became the legal property
0:16:56 > 0:16:59of a mysterious offshore company based in Panama.
0:17:00 > 0:17:04But without regular maintenance and repair, the structure deteriorated,
0:17:04 > 0:17:09while a peculiar mix of businesses came and went on the deck above.
0:17:10 > 0:17:13It had all these very strange little business units,
0:17:13 > 0:17:16a computer repair shop and a language school,
0:17:16 > 0:17:18and these quirky things that you think,
0:17:18 > 0:17:19"What is this doing on a pier?"
0:17:19 > 0:17:23It certainly lacked love and care and attention.
0:17:25 > 0:17:28For a long time, the council were waiting for a fairy godmother
0:17:28 > 0:17:31to come along with a load of money and sort it out,
0:17:31 > 0:17:34but even if that had happened, that would have been a business,
0:17:34 > 0:17:37a private company, who would have had
0:17:37 > 0:17:39responsibility to shareholders,
0:17:39 > 0:17:41rather than responsibility to the building,
0:17:41 > 0:17:43and that's a problem, particularly with piers.
0:17:43 > 0:17:46They need responsible owners who will take the money
0:17:46 > 0:17:49that comes off the top and put it back in underneath.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55That didn't happen at Hastings,
0:17:55 > 0:18:00and in August 2008, after a colourful life of 136 years,
0:18:00 > 0:18:04the structure was declared unsafe and the pier was shut down.
0:18:06 > 0:18:10And there she stood, uninsured, unvisited,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13but not, apparently, unloved.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16A group of determined local people had formed a trust,
0:18:16 > 0:18:20and the campaign was well under way to get Hastings Pier
0:18:20 > 0:18:22back into the hands of Hastings people.
0:18:24 > 0:18:27There was a sense that nobody else could deal with it.
0:18:27 > 0:18:30The only people who can't walk away are the people who live here,
0:18:30 > 0:18:32and so there wasn't another option.
0:18:33 > 0:18:38With the campaign gathering pace, the trust met on October 4, 2010,
0:18:38 > 0:18:42to discuss plans for a compulsory purchase of the pier.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47I was chairing the meeting, which was the official announcement to say
0:18:47 > 0:18:49what the situation and the plans were,
0:18:49 > 0:18:51and then I went to bed that night,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54and I was working in a place called Cwmbran in South Wales,
0:18:54 > 0:18:57so I had to get up at four o'clock in the morning,
0:18:57 > 0:19:00and so I had a nice sleep, and about 3:45,
0:19:00 > 0:19:02I noticed a text to say, "the pier is on fire."
0:19:02 > 0:19:05And I thought, "Well, that can't be right."
0:19:05 > 0:19:08So, I then got out of bed, got ready as I would normally,
0:19:08 > 0:19:11and instead of turning right towards Cwmbran,
0:19:11 > 0:19:13I turned left and could see, oh, yes, there's a fire.
0:19:20 > 0:19:22- OVER RADIO:- 'Yeah, this is pretty terrible.'
0:19:22 > 0:19:26Who started the fire and how has never been established,
0:19:26 > 0:19:29although two men were arrested at the scene.
0:19:29 > 0:19:30They were never charged.
0:19:33 > 0:19:37If I could have got to the person who set the fire,
0:19:37 > 0:19:38I would have strangled them.
0:19:39 > 0:19:41That was just my...
0:19:41 > 0:19:47almost my entire life between about 10 years old and about 30,
0:19:47 > 0:19:50something like that, just up in smoke.
0:19:51 > 0:19:54People were crying the next morning.
0:19:54 > 0:19:57It did feel like a daughter of the town was dead,
0:19:57 > 0:19:59and also, it wasn't just a tragedy.
0:19:59 > 0:20:01People were angry that it had been left for so long,
0:20:01 > 0:20:04that it was uninsured, that because it was unsafe,
0:20:04 > 0:20:07the fire engines weren't able to get on it.
0:20:07 > 0:20:08I'm looking at it,
0:20:08 > 0:20:11and then just tears started rolling down my face,
0:20:11 > 0:20:15cos I realised it was the pier, Hastings Pier, being burnt down.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18And I just thought, God, you know...
0:20:19 > 0:20:21It's just too much, watching this.
0:20:24 > 0:20:27Hastings had been on the endangered piers list
0:20:27 > 0:20:29for several years before the blaze.
0:20:29 > 0:20:33Now, it seemed destined to become Britain's 42nd lost pier.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Of the 15 original piers that once stood
0:20:37 > 0:20:40on the coast of Kent and East Sussex,
0:20:40 > 0:20:42only Eastbourne,
0:20:42 > 0:20:43Brighton,
0:20:43 > 0:20:45and Gravesend have survived intact.
0:20:45 > 0:20:50Deal is on its third pier, and so is Herne Bay,
0:20:50 > 0:20:55although its pier head has been detached from its body since 1980.
0:20:55 > 0:20:59But nine other south-east piers have disappeared completely,
0:20:59 > 0:21:01many of them destroyed by fire.
0:21:01 > 0:21:05But in Hastings, the flames had a strange effect.
0:21:05 > 0:21:09They burnt the pier, but they also fired up the town.
0:21:09 > 0:21:13From that moment onwards, I think I joined everybody else
0:21:13 > 0:21:18in Hastings in thinking, "We now must save this pier."
0:21:18 > 0:21:22By morning, we'd rethought how we were going to do it,
0:21:22 > 0:21:25and we were out on the promenade, talking to people and saying,
0:21:25 > 0:21:27"We are not giving up. Don't give up."
0:21:27 > 0:21:29I was straight on the phone to Kerry Michael
0:21:29 > 0:21:33at Weston-super-Mare pier, and said, "Our pier has just burnt down.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36"You've been through this experience. Can I come and see you?"
0:21:39 > 0:21:42The grand pier at Weston-super-Mare was badly damaged by fire
0:21:42 > 0:21:44two years before Hastings.
0:21:44 > 0:21:49But this pier had insurance to cover the £40 million repairs.
0:21:50 > 0:21:52Hastings was a dangerous structure
0:21:52 > 0:21:56with no sign of its offshore owners, and no money.
0:21:58 > 0:22:00But seven weeks after the fire,
0:22:00 > 0:22:04the trust had worked out how much it needed to rebuild the structure,
0:22:04 > 0:22:07and put in a bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.
0:22:08 > 0:22:11They came down and the town was plastered with posters
0:22:11 > 0:22:13saying "everyone loves the pier",
0:22:13 > 0:22:16and "just say yes to the people's pier", and all these things.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18The Heritage Lottery said to me since
0:22:18 > 0:22:20that they've never seen anything like that,
0:22:20 > 0:22:23that normally they come and they have a bit of a visit,
0:22:23 > 0:22:25they don't normally expect that kind of level of support locally.
0:22:25 > 0:22:31In total, £14 million was needed, but while fundraising carried on,
0:22:31 > 0:22:35nothing else could happen until the trust secured ownership of the pier,
0:22:35 > 0:22:37a process that took three years.
0:22:37 > 0:22:39One of the reasons I have stuck with it all these years is
0:22:39 > 0:22:43because I wanted to prove that local people could make this big change.
0:22:43 > 0:22:46And that's all the local people, not just a few trustees,
0:22:46 > 0:22:48but all the volunteers, all the members,
0:22:48 > 0:22:51all the people who've come out for marches and for events,
0:22:51 > 0:22:53for tea dances and quizzes and raffles and everything,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56all of those people have made this difference.
0:22:56 > 0:22:58They didn't think they could, but they have.
0:22:59 > 0:23:01The community in Hastings is very unusual,
0:23:01 > 0:23:05because it really has a strong sense of itself.
0:23:05 > 0:23:08There is a belief that you can get things done as a community,
0:23:08 > 0:23:11and I think, actually, in Britain, we've kind of lost that a bit.
0:23:11 > 0:23:14One more. That's it. Thanks.
0:23:14 > 0:23:17After years of campaigning, the pier finally became the property of
0:23:17 > 0:23:22the Hastings Pier Charity in August 2013.
0:23:22 > 0:23:24CHEERING
0:23:24 > 0:23:28Work began to bring this great attraction back from the dead.
0:23:28 > 0:23:32MUSIC: "Voodoo Chile" by Jimi Hendrix
0:23:37 > 0:23:39The initial work involves measuring
0:23:39 > 0:23:41every inch of the Victorian metalwork
0:23:41 > 0:23:46with a 21st-century laser scanner to produce a 3D jigsaw puzzle,
0:23:46 > 0:23:49with the size and shape of every new piece worked out precisely.
0:23:51 > 0:23:53In a strange quirk of fate,
0:23:53 > 0:23:57a former Hastings teenager is overseeing this part of the process.
0:23:57 > 0:24:00This section here is the area that was demolished
0:24:00 > 0:24:03during the Second World War, and we can tell that from the construction.
0:24:03 > 0:24:07These girders here are made out of iron and steel,
0:24:07 > 0:24:08and not cast iron,
0:24:08 > 0:24:10which is what the Victorians used originally.
0:24:15 > 0:24:18Most of the 14 million is being spent below the deck
0:24:18 > 0:24:20to repair and secure the structure.
0:24:21 > 0:24:24So the plans above deck are simple.
0:24:25 > 0:24:28In a way, it's a return to the kind of pier Eugenius Birch
0:24:28 > 0:24:32envisaged all those years ago, with just two buildings.
0:24:33 > 0:24:37One, the only survivor of the fire, will be a restaurant.
0:24:38 > 0:24:40The other will be a visitor centre,
0:24:40 > 0:24:42with mirrored walls reflecting sea and sky.
0:24:44 > 0:24:47The rest of the pier will be open space,
0:24:47 > 0:24:51an urban park over the water, where activities can come and go
0:24:51 > 0:24:54as the weeks, months, and seasons change.
0:24:55 > 0:24:58We see the pier and the visitor centre both as being
0:24:58 > 0:25:01very flexible venues to allow
0:25:01 > 0:25:04a whole range of different activities to take place,
0:25:04 > 0:25:09whether it's a visiting circus, markets,
0:25:09 > 0:25:11a funfair, what have you.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Different activities that also work throughout the course of the year.
0:25:14 > 0:25:17In winter, it might be Christmas markets,
0:25:17 > 0:25:19it could be ice-skating.
0:25:19 > 0:25:21Autumn, it could be a harvest festival,
0:25:21 > 0:25:23it could be a music festival,
0:25:23 > 0:25:27in addition to what you'd expect to find in the summer time.
0:25:29 > 0:25:30A pier is for everyone.
0:25:30 > 0:25:34It's for all ages, for all classes, and it's completely accessible.
0:25:34 > 0:25:36It's a flat space. You can get a buggy on it,
0:25:36 > 0:25:38a wheelchair on it, so it really is
0:25:38 > 0:25:41for the whole town and for every kind of visitor.
0:25:43 > 0:25:48I think the architects have come up with a great vision, actually,
0:25:48 > 0:25:52that retains the history and feel of the pier,
0:25:52 > 0:25:55but at the same time, makes it really modern and unique.
0:25:58 > 0:26:01And the idea of stripping it back and reconnecting it to the sea
0:26:01 > 0:26:06is just a very basic idea, but it's a lovely one.
0:26:06 > 0:26:08Not only does it give us that opportunity
0:26:08 > 0:26:11to leverage all kinds of different activities
0:26:11 > 0:26:13at different times of the year,
0:26:13 > 0:26:15but, of course, the maintenance costs of an open space
0:26:15 > 0:26:18mean that we can probably concentrate
0:26:18 > 0:26:22more than previous owners on making sure that the substructure,
0:26:22 > 0:26:25which, after all, is the thing that supports everything,
0:26:25 > 0:26:27whether it be buildings or open space,
0:26:27 > 0:26:31but that's the element of it which needs to be properly maintained.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34The pier has to be able to fund its own maintenance,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38and the business plan is relatively conservative.
0:26:38 > 0:26:43It involves 325,000 visitors a year, each spending £4.
0:26:43 > 0:26:47And if we're able to meet those numbers, then that should
0:26:47 > 0:26:50provide sufficient funding to ensure
0:26:50 > 0:26:54that the pier itself is maintained, as the priority of the charity.
0:26:55 > 0:26:57It's not just a new kind of pier.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01It has a new kind of owner, too, with a community share scheme,
0:27:01 > 0:27:04enabling anyone to invest £100 or more
0:27:04 > 0:27:06and have a say in his future.
0:27:06 > 0:27:10Every shareholder has a single vote, regardless of how much they invest.
0:27:10 > 0:27:14In a sense, it gives everybody a right to participate
0:27:14 > 0:27:16in the way in which the pier develops.
0:27:16 > 0:27:22It'll be nice to come back in Easter 2015, when it's due to open,
0:27:22 > 0:27:25and feel, "Well, I own a bit of this."
0:27:25 > 0:27:28I look forward to it very much.
0:27:28 > 0:27:30MUSIC: "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" By The Clash
0:27:31 > 0:27:35It's 145 years since construction began
0:27:35 > 0:27:38on Eugenius Birch's pioneering pleasure pier.
0:27:38 > 0:27:40The world has changed a lot since then,
0:27:40 > 0:27:44and Hastings Pier has changed with it.
0:27:44 > 0:27:46And maybe that willingness to change,
0:27:46 > 0:27:49along with the tenacity of the townsfolk,
0:27:49 > 0:27:52will be the key to its future success.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55We always wanted a 21st century pleasure pier.
0:27:55 > 0:27:57We weren't harking back to the 19th century,
0:27:57 > 0:28:00so now we really can make that happen.
0:28:00 > 0:28:03For heaven's sake! You just have to come out here!
0:28:03 > 0:28:07It's a wonderful place. It's exhilarating. It's beautiful.
0:28:07 > 0:28:09This will be here in 200 years' time.
0:28:09 > 0:28:11Thank God for the people of Hastings! They've saved it.
0:28:12 > 0:28:14# Should I stay or should I go now?
0:28:16 > 0:28:19# Should I stay or should I go now?
0:28:21 > 0:28:23# If I go, there will be trouble
0:28:25 > 0:28:28# And if I stay, it will be double
0:28:29 > 0:28:32# So you got to let me know
0:28:34 > 0:28:36# Should I cool it or should I blow?
0:28:38 > 0:28:40# Should I stay or should I go now?
0:28:42 > 0:28:45# If I go there will be trouble
0:28:46 > 0:28:49# And if I stay, it will be double
0:28:50 > 0:28:55# So you've got to let me know...
0:28:55 > 0:28:57# Should I stay or should I go? #