Bognor Regis Pier (Bognor Regis)
Bognor Regis Pier is one of a dwindling number of English seaside piers, a fascinating and much loved institution.
It is situated on the South coast at Bognor Regis.
The pier was designed by Joseph W. Wilson and opened in 1865. The original structure was 1000 feet long and had no buildings.
After several supporting columns were swept away as a result of damage caused when the sloop "Nancy" slipped her moorings in 1867, the pier`s popularity began to wane and demolition was in the air before it was purchased by the council in 1876.
Over the years, there were a number of improvements and extensions, with a bandstand added in 1880 and a pavilion in 1900.
The pier was sold to the Bognor Pier Company in 1908, and more improvements included the addition of a restaurant, theatre, roller skating rink and three tier landing stage.
It saw action during the Second World War, but decline set in after restoration in 1947. Today it continues to operate but with fewer attractions.
Bognor Regis Pier is best known today for the International Bognor Birdman Rally, where contestants attempt to glide for 100 metres in various homemade contraptions. Nobody has succeeded yet. The Rally was originally held at nearby Selsey from 1971, but transferred here in 1978.