(no subject)

[llywela]

Okay, so the pier at Weston-super-Mare is burning down. And I have smoke over my house. Wow, that's come a long way - blown clear across the Bristol Channel! The fire must be bad.

A couple of my cousins are in Weston this week, taking part in the beach ministry. This is going to affect their work this week, big time.

Comments

[shaw012145.livejournal.com]

I'm listening to the radio while here at the computer and this has made our news ... all that water and the fire ... 100 years of history gone, never to be replaced. As they have said ... very sad.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

I've been looking at pictures, online and on the news. It's incredible - so much damage. There's nothing left.

It's also incredible how much smoke made it all the way across the Channel!

[shaw012145.livejournal.com]

For you the wind was blowing the wrong way.

Have they said anything about rebuilding it ?

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Way, way too soon to be thinking about reconstruction of any kind - they only just got the fire out. It seems pretty certain that the destruction is total. It's a Victorian pier; it went up like a tinderbox. The same thing happened to the pier in Brighton a few years ago, and that remains a ruin - but Brighton at least has a new pier further along. And the one in Weston was only just renovated and restored!

It is a sad day.

Weston pier

[(Anonymous)]

I don't think it's all Victorian, it burnt down in the 1930's and took about three years to restore. My Mum remembers that, she says the could see the smoke from the village where they lived. I went to school with some of the Brenner family who owned it from 1947 up till about 6 months ago.
Rachel

Re: Weston pier

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Yes, it was rebuilt in the 30s - but it's been there since 1904. I've been learning a lot from the news today!

[bagpuss1966.livejournal.com]

I'm so very sad about this. Luke went there on a school trip last week and said it was 'awesome' - it only reopened in April after extensive refurbishment by the new owners. They must be gutted too.

It's Edwardian, I believe - built in 1904.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Victorian, Edwardian...it's old. *G* And was such an important feature of the town. So sad to see it destroyed like that. But it sounds like the structure remains sound, so maybe it will be salvageable, unlike Brighton.

[bagpuss1966.livejournal.com]

LOL - I wasn't correcting you - I posted before I read the replies that had already been made, including your mention of it being Victorian. :p

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

LOL it's okay - I knew very little about it before today, other than obviously the fact that it seems to have been there forever, and was a hugely important feature of the town. big fire = valuable learning opportunity!

[rosie55.livejournal.com]

It's such a pity, isn't it - the pier really was the heart of Weston and it will be a severe blow to the town. I could see from the film that the smoke was all blowing away to the West so that was coming directly over you.
From the look of it on newsfilm now it appears that the sub-structure may be relatively undamaged, unlike the Brighton Pier where the metal work was also destroyed, though obviously they won't be able to carry out tests etc until much later when it has all cooled down. If the framework is ok, they may be able to rebuild the superstructure. Clevedon Pier, just a few miles North, (which fell down in the 1970s while they were hanging weights on it to test it for insurance purposes!)was eventually re-built though it did take twenty years and that was as a result of local people campaigning and fund-raising! Hopefully insurance should cover this one.
There were hints from the Fire Service this morning that the fire may have started in the kitchen areas where the deep fat fryers were. And a maintenance technician who arrived soon after the fire started removed some acetylene cylinders, so that was both brave and helpful - those exploding would not have been much fun. The Fire Brigade had to run hoses the length of the pier to get water to the fire - the tide was out and anyway the water at WSM is so muddy, I doubt they would have been able to use it without clogging the pumps. You have to hope that if it is re-built a fire hydrant will be run along under the pier. Stable doors and all that, I suppose!
This is just about the last thing that any seaside town needs at the moment and right at the height of the holiday season. Thank goodness it didn't happen later when the pier was crowded with people.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've been following it on the news - at first it looked like total devastation, but now it seems the main structure remains reasonably sound. Poor Brighton pier - that was awful, to see it ruined like that. This time, this one was in such good condition and had such a recent revamp, it should hopefully be well insured and maybe that will speed up repairs. We'll have to wait and see. But in the meantime, all those livelihoods! :(

I was amazed to see how far the smoke had travelled across the Channel and even a few miles inland. Crazy.

[jayres.livejournal.com]

How awful about Weston's pier. :(
It is one of the closest seaside resorts to us and the pier was historic. I hope they are able to restore it one day.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it was such a huge feature of the town and tourist attraction - a lot of people are going to suffer from its loss. But hopefully it is repairable, unlike the old pier at Brighton.

[kilynn16.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's awful!!

You and yours stay safe, sweetie!

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Thanks. We're nowhere near the fire - all the way across the Bristol Channel. The smoke travelled a hell of a long way to get to my house, which was impressive! I'm a little concerned and sad for my cousins, who made the trip down there for the beach mission this week - this is going to cause enormous disruption to their work. But the fire happened early enough that the pier hadn't opened, so no one was hurt, thank goodness.

[agentxpndble.livejournal.com]

OMG, what a terrible, terrible shame! :::cries:::

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

It's an awful thing to happen to the town - such a historic landmark and popular tourist attraction. :(

[wildcard-sej.livejournal.com]

Just catching up now, and goodness how awful! The worst of it is that even if they do manage to raise the funding to rebuild it all again, much of the history of the place was irreplaceable. Such a shame, and devastating for all those businesses too, but at least it seems no one was injured.

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Yes. Small mercies and all that - it happened early enough that no one was hurt. But all that history, and all those livelihoods! Such a terrible shame.

[kelzies.livejournal.com]

Saw about that on the news, it's such a terrible shame :(

[llywela13.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It's a piece of history destroyed - and a huge blow for the tourist industry of the town.