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Welcome to the National Piers Society
The seaside piers around the coast of Britain stand as a powerful
reminder of the achievements of Victorian engineers and
entrepreneurs. At the turn of the last century, almost a hundred
piers existed: now only half remain and several face an uncertain
future.
 At Colwyn Bay,
for example, local people are fighting hard to save the now
dilapidated Victoria Pier from being demolished by the local
council.
Birnbeck Pier at
Weston-Super-Mare, unique in being built partially on an island, is also in mortal danger of
being lost forever.
And at Hastings, the Hastings
Pier and White Rock Trust are fighting a fierce battle to save
their beautiful pier, a fight fully supported by the National
Piers Society.
The National Piers Society was founded in 1979 under Sir John
Betjeman, at a time when some of the finest piers were threatened
with demolition. Over the years the Society has grown steadily and
has become well established as the leading authority on piers.
Through its efforts, several piers that would otherwise have
vanished, remain for the enjoyment of everyone.
 The Society's aims are to promote and sustain interest in the
preservation and continued enjoyment of seaside piers. It
publishes a Guide to British Piers and a quarterly magazine, and
advises heritage bodies, lottery boards, local authorities and the
media on pier matters. It maintains links with the British
Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (representing
pier owners) and the Paddle Steamer Preservation Society, whose
ships operate excursions from pier landing stages.
The Society has instituted an award scheme for engineering
achievement
 in pier restoration. It organises visits and talks and
holds its Annual General Meeting in a different resort each year.
In the longer term, the Society wishes to establish a network of
regional branches and a National Piers Museum.
We organise visits and talks and hold our Annual General Meeting
in a different resort each year. The 2010 AGM was held in
Bournemouth.
We'd like to receive any feedback you may have about the website
or our society, please email the
website manager
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What's
Occurring?
THE MAIN PIERS DATABASE
The National Piers Society website maintains a database of
all seaside pleasure piers, both surviving and lost. Each pier
has its own webpage containing a summary of the history of the
pier and a series of links to other websites organised under
the headings below.
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