Back to the Future....

Right from the start we knew that Thursday was set to be our longest day with 5 piers to visit and over 200 miles to travel but following a couple of tweets and emails we now had an excellent reason to extend our stay in Hastings.

But that was later, first we had to reluctantly say goodbye to our wonderful hotel room and its spectacular views and move along the coast to Brighton and its pier.

We've been to Brighton quite a few times in the past and been up and down the pier plenty so a simple selfie was all that was required.

 

 

 



#25 Brighton Pier

 

There is though a family tradition in Brighton where we have to visit the American Diner on the seafront. We were too early for lunch but not too early for their delicious milkshakes (it's never too early for those!) so after a quick slurp it was back to the car and on to Eastbourne.



#26 Eastbourne

 

Eastbourne has a bit of a reputation as a place for old people and looking in the café on the pier I'd say it is pretty well justified. The average age was in excess of 60 and that was with us bringing it down somewhat thanks to Dylan's 11 years! Eastbourne though looks a very nice place and the pier was looking pretty good with renovations still taking place.

 

I've never been to Eastbourne before but I'd say it's likely I'll return. Probably when I'm 70....

 

We were rushing a bit as we had a date at 1pm with the good people of Hastings Pier who had generously invited us to look behind the scenes of their restoration project. It certainly beats taking a selfie with a building site fence as the backdrop.

 

Emma met us at the gate and took us on a tour of the work being done (42 miles of decking being laid, a new visitors centre, refurbished railings, a renovated pavilion not to mention sinking new stanchions to support the pier). We got some photo's, a bit of history of Hastings pier and I had a lovely chat about the different piers around the country. Meanwhile Dylan was being presented with a piece of the old decking (over 100 years) and had it signed by Emma and the guys in charge of the restoration.

 

It's really great to see up close Lottery funding being put to good use. I don't feel so bad that my numbers haven't come up for the last 20 odd years.....

 

 

 

#27 Hastings

 

 

After a spot of lunch we were on our way to Deal. It was a long boring drive that wasn't helped by Operation Stack diverting us off our intended route. The highlight of the drive was the village of Pevensey that was having some sort of Scarecrow carnival that saw all the villagers make one and exhibit it in their gardens. That was a bit surreal but helped pass a couple of minutes.

 

We finally arrived in Deal and located the pier. It's the UK's youngest pier having been built in 1957. It looked alright although it was a concrete structure with little character. We took our selfie before walking to the end where there was a café. We didn't have time to sample the goods and had to head back to the car. To sum it all up in one word....windy!

 

 

#28 Deal

 

Another drive through winding roads brought us to Herne Bay. The sea front looked lively and the pier was easy to find (most are, you simply find the sea front and look for a structure jutting out). We parked up, took the selfie and walked to the end. Well the end that is currently reachable. Far out in the sea is another structure that looks a lot like it was originally the pier end. With no way of reaching it, swimming not looking a viable option, we simply took another photo.

 

While standing at the end of the Herne Bay pier we were treated to another rather 'random' moment as a convoy of about 20 pensioners on mobility scooters seemed to be having a race around the pier end. Why not.....

 

#29 Herne Bay

 

 

That was the piers done and dusted for the day but we weren't full up on excitement just yet. We had tickets for the outdoor cinema in Leeds Castle. They were showing the excellent family film Back To The Future.





We parked ourselves in perfect distance from the screen and wrapped ourselves up in our sleeping bags (we've done these outdoor cinemas before and it's surprising how cold it can get even in Summer). We got some strange looks as the sun went down but by 11pm there were a lot of people wishing they had come as well prepared as us....

 

Another amazing end to another great day.

 

Distance travelled so far: 1209 miles Piers visited: 29

 We’re hoping to raise a bit of money for the RNLI as we travel from pier to pier and I’ve set up a charitable page here http://www.everyclick.com/visit55piersin20days/info to accept donations.

 If you feel you could spare a pound or two and sponsor us for this very worthwhile charity that would be really great and much appreciated.