Deal Pier (Deal)
Deal Pier is one of a dwindling number of English seaside piers, a fascinating and much loved institution.
It is situated at Deal on the Kent coast, and points out towards the Continent.
Deal Pier is unique, being the only pier to have been completely built since the end of the Second World War.
The first pier at Deal, 250 feet in length, was designed by John Rennie and built in 1838. This was destroyed by a combination of sandworms and storms in 1857.
Eugenius Birch designed the town`s second pier, which was opened in 1864. This struggled through life with a number of ships damaging it. Eventually, Winston Churchill ordered the battered pier to be demolished in 1940, to give coastal defensive guns a clear line of fire.
A new pier was started in 1954 and opened by the Duke of Edinburgh in 1957.