After a hectic Thursday our schedule for Friday was a lot less demanding. With just two piers to see it afforded us the chance to recharge the batteries and meet up with some friends.
First port of call was Gravesend, where after finding some free parking (there's a first!) we headed towards the river front. It looked like a simple mission of finding the pier, taking the selfie and heading onwards but as it turned out we were faced with a bit of a dilemma. We found TWO piers within 500 yards of each other. Now that wasn't in our piers book!
With no wifi I couldn't confirm which one we wanted so we did what any self respecting pierists would do and took a selfie at both to decide later which one was the correct one. Still, it was a nice morning for a walk.
As it turns out we're still none the wiser. I've messaged the lovely people at the Piers Society to help solve the conundrum.
Without wishing to cause offence to any Gravesendian, there didn't seem much in the town to keep us any longer than the 20 minutes it had taken to get our photo's so it was back in the car and onwards to the Dartford crossing through to Southend On Sea.
Within 5 minutes of arriving I found out that all these years I've been mispronouncing Southend. According to the locals it's Sarfend. They say you learn something new everyday.
Dylan has been looking forward to visiting Sarfend On Sea pier every since he found out that it's the longest pleasure pier in the world and since he found out that we were meeting up with our good friend Carole and her toddler Leon he's been asking every day for the last two weeks, 'which day are we going to Southend?'. Today, Dylan, today.
First port of call was something to eat. Second port of call was the front of the pier for our selfie. Third port of call was the train to the end of the pier.
It's not until you ride the train that you can actually comprehend just how long this pier is. 1.33 miles is a long way and I was grateful to the bright spark who had come up with the idea of having a train take you to the end. At the end of the pier there's an ice cream parlour, a café, lots of fisherman fishing (as they do) and an RNLI station.
It's quite surreal looking back to the town from such a distance. And on a sunny day it's also very beautiful. Sarfend on Sea had made it into the top 3 piers we've visited so far. I loved it.
Heading back to the train station to catch the train back it surfaced that Dylan really, really wanted to walk back the 1.33 miles. Whoa, seriously? Luckily Sam agreed to walk back with him, so I was off the hook. I caught the train back with Carole and Leon and saved my legs for another day.
It turns out you get a certificate to prove you walked the length of the pier on your return and Dylan is now the proud owner of such an item. If I'd known that I would have done it as well.
Pier done there was now plenty of time to enjoy the Adventure Island theme park and more importantly the crazy golf course (another victory for me). We had a cup of tea and some donuts in a seafront café, played a few of the machines in the arcades and generally behaved like tourists until it was time for tea and then time to head off to the hotel.
Yet another fun filled day was in the book.
Distance travelled so far: 1259 miles. Piers visited: 31 (+1 bonus pier)
First port of call was Gravesend, where after finding some free parking (there's a first!) we headed towards the river front. It looked like a simple mission of finding the pier, taking the selfie and heading onwards but as it turned out we were faced with a bit of a dilemma. We found TWO piers within 500 yards of each other. Now that wasn't in our piers book!
With no wifi I couldn't confirm which one we wanted so we did what any self respecting pierists would do and took a selfie at both to decide later which one was the correct one. Still, it was a nice morning for a walk.
# 30 Gravesend Pier (1)
Gravesend Pier (2)
As it turns out we're still none the wiser. I've messaged the lovely people at the Piers Society to help solve the conundrum.
Without wishing to cause offence to any Gravesendian, there didn't seem much in the town to keep us any longer than the 20 minutes it had taken to get our photo's so it was back in the car and onwards to the Dartford crossing through to Southend On Sea.
Within 5 minutes of arriving I found out that all these years I've been mispronouncing Southend. According to the locals it's Sarfend. They say you learn something new everyday.
Dylan has been looking forward to visiting Sarfend On Sea pier every since he found out that it's the longest pleasure pier in the world and since he found out that we were meeting up with our good friend Carole and her toddler Leon he's been asking every day for the last two weeks, 'which day are we going to Southend?'. Today, Dylan, today.
First port of call was something to eat. Second port of call was the front of the pier for our selfie. Third port of call was the train to the end of the pier.
#31 Southend On Sea
It's not until you ride the train that you can actually comprehend just how long this pier is. 1.33 miles is a long way and I was grateful to the bright spark who had come up with the idea of having a train take you to the end. At the end of the pier there's an ice cream parlour, a café, lots of fisherman fishing (as they do) and an RNLI station.
It's quite surreal looking back to the town from such a distance. And on a sunny day it's also very beautiful. Sarfend on Sea had made it into the top 3 piers we've visited so far. I loved it.
Heading back to the train station to catch the train back it surfaced that Dylan really, really wanted to walk back the 1.33 miles. Whoa, seriously? Luckily Sam agreed to walk back with him, so I was off the hook. I caught the train back with Carole and Leon and saved my legs for another day.
It turns out you get a certificate to prove you walked the length of the pier on your return and Dylan is now the proud owner of such an item. If I'd known that I would have done it as well.
Pier done there was now plenty of time to enjoy the Adventure Island theme park and more importantly the crazy golf course (another victory for me). We had a cup of tea and some donuts in a seafront café, played a few of the machines in the arcades and generally behaved like tourists until it was time for tea and then time to head off to the hotel.
Yet another fun filled day was in the book.
Distance travelled so far: 1259 miles. Piers visited: 31 (+1 bonus pier)
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