Homeward bound.....

So this was it. After 19 days and over 2300 miles we had just 2 piers left on out list, Aberystwyth and Mumbles (Swansea). My Dad had set off with us right at the start of our adventure and it seemed fitting that he had decided to join us for out last leg also. So first port of call was to pick him up from Aberystwyth train station.

Leaving our last hotel in Porthmadog we enjoyed yet another scenic drive to our first location of the day. We arrived in good time so headed for the pier to get our selfie. The pier wasn't open as it was still early but the selfie opportunity was taken and we moved on to get my Dad.

#54 Aberystwyth Pier

It was a beautiful Summers day, the best of the last 3 weeks, so we decided to stick around for a bit and ride the Vale of Rheidol Steam Railway. It meanders and climbs for 12 miles through the stunning Welsh countryside and finally stops at Devils Bridge. We had an hour to explore the waterfalls, borehole and bridges before heading back to Aberystwyth. A glorious 3 hours.

After a spot of lunch in the beer garden of a nearby pub it was time to tackle the last route of our adventure. Anyone who has driven the roads around the mid/West side of Wales knows just how slow and arduous it is and it was a good 2 1/2 hours before we had made the 79 miles to The Mumbles.

Despite living relatively close to Swansea I'd never been to Mumbles Pier before but I'll definitely be returning. This is a pier going places. They've got an excellent set of buildings at the front with bars, cafes, shops and a busy amusement arcade. Around the back of the arcade is the entrance to the pier which looks about half way through it's program of rejuvenation. The end of the pier is now finished with a brand new lifeboat station, new seats, freshly painted wrought iron railings and a lovely wooden decked boardwalk. The views of the extensive Swansea sea front are spectacular and this is going to be one fantastic pier when the middle section renovation is finished.

I just hope they keep the gorilla in a bikini statue (yes really!) that stands around halfway up the pier.

#55 Mumbles Pier 

My dad photo-bombing at the end of Mumbles Pier

All that was left to do now was head back home to Penarth to take our final selfie of our holiday.....

Miles travelled: 2442 Piers visited: 55 Days spent on the road: 20

The End!

I'll take a few days to let everything sink in, look through the hundreds of photo's and attempt to write one last blog entry summing up our incredible journey.

Nearly there.....

After a hectic schedule for the majority of this trip things have quietened down a bit as we near home and it was a similar story today. Having visited Llandudno pier the previous evening, and done all the touristy stuff on our last visit here in 2014, there was no need to hang around and so after checking out of our hotel we headed straight for pier number 52, Bangor.

It was a beautiful Summer's day as we left Llandudno and we were treated to some spectacular views as we made our way along the coast. I've never been to Bangor before and had no idea what to expect from the pier other than it has a nice tea shop on the right hand side as you enter. I knew this because the owner Ian Jones had very kindly tweeted me to invite us for a brew when we visited the pier.

Brenda the satnav ordered us (she's awfully bossy) down what looked like a back road leading to nowhere. I should have known better than to doubt her as the tiny lane led straight to the pier. And what an incredible site it is as you lay eyes on the pier for the first time.

Two turrets stand guard at the entrance with a lovely iron gate between them. From the road it looks like the pier stretches all the way to the Isle of Anglesey but it does it fact stop short to allow the boats to pass down the river (those clever Victorians thought of everything). We were told that it's not unheard of to see people wheeling their suitcases down the pier expecting to cross the river. And then see them 2 minutes later wheeling them back! If you do want to cross the Menai Straights best use the very practical Thomas Telford built Menai Bridge further up stream, or bring your swimming trunks!

A very polite girl took our £1.20 (a very cheap 50p per adult and 20p per child) and we were on the pier. First port of call was to see Ian in his little turreted Snack and Tackle café bar. We got our cup of tea, a can of pop and Dylan had his favourite ice-cream of the trip. We also got loads of facts and figures from our host who seemed to know everything there is to know about Bangor and it's pier. He also knew quite a bit about Anglesey and pointed out Roger Moore's old penthouse apartment across the river. Sort of bloke you'd want on your pub quiz team.

We finished our drinks and had a stroll to the end of the pier. which was crammed with crabbers, to take our selfie at the end. Walking back we popped in to say our goodbyes to Ian, thank him for his hospitality and generosity and wish him all the best for the remainder of the Season. We've met some wonderful people on this trip and he was one of the very best.

Ian from the Snack and Tackle (with Dylan)



Exiting the pier we took our selfie and headed for the car.

#52 Bangor

 Next stop Anglesey.

It's only a short drive to cross the river, you can actually see both the Menai Bridge and Beaumaris Pier from the end of Bangor Pier, and we arrived at our destination after about 15 minutes.

After the delights of Bangor it was always going to be difficult for Beamaris Pier to match it. It couldn't but we can't take anything away from the pier as it had it's own unique charm. A little shop at the front, a short pier with a half planked boardwalk and a landing pontoon at the end. It was very nice, seemed busy enough and had an incredibly beautiful backdrop of sea and mountains.

#53 Beaumaris (Isle of Anglesey)

We got our selfies, had a walk around the town centre, admired the castle and then set off once more.

Next stop was Porthmadog where our last hotel is. We checked in and as the day was still fairly young headed for the town centre. A kickabout in the park with Dylan, a game of tennis and a very nice meal in the local Indian Restaurant meant that once again we had put to bed another excellent day.

I shall miss this round the coast travelling lark when we get home tomorrow.....

Miles travelled so far: 2275 Piers visited: 53

The green, green grass of home.....

After leaving a wet Southport the realisation that we are coming to the end of our holiday hit home as we re-entered Wales 17 days after we had left. It was with a tinge of sadness we made our first stop of the day in Colwyn Bay to see their now defunct pier.

It's a hulking mess of decaying buildings and wrought iron which Conwy Council seem intent on pulling down but after strong local support for the pier it has been provided a temporary stay of execution. It's going to take an awful lot of money to restore the pier and help from the Heritage Lottery Fund will be paramount to Colywn Bay's Pier future.

So we took our selfie in front of the boarded up pier and moved on up the coast to the bustling town of Llandudno.

 

#50 Colwyn Bay Pier

This is a seaside resort going places and it's pier is a real gem, it's not known as the 'Queen of Welsh Piers' for nothing. There's a dog leg at about a third of the way up just as the pier passes the Grand Hotel and then it straightens out. There are plenty of shops, cafes and arcades along the boarwalk and the ornate railings have been recently repainted to provide a lovely clean, refreshed look to the pier.

#51 Llandudno

Only 4 piers remain on our list and we have just 2 days left on the road. I'm now wishing I'd extended our holiday by including the Scottish piers.....

Miles travelled so far: 2155 Piers visited: 51

North and South....

Day 17 of 20. Over 2000 miles travelled, 44 piers visited and 15 different hotel rooms stayed in.

It could only mean one thing. It was time to visit Blackpool. I know it's the most popular seaside resort in the UK and that to some people it's a great place for a holiday but, personally, I'm not a big fan of the Lancashire town.

But they have 3 piers in the town so there was no avoiding it. First up was the North Pier....

#45 Blackpool North Pier



Nothing sums up Blackpool better than their North Pier. Old, seen better days and in need of an overhaul.

There is a though a wonderful two storey Carousel ride at the end of the pier which is the undoubted star of the show and deserves a better setting.

Next along the shoreline was the Central Pier and then the South Pier which is located near the Pleasure Beach. Both are similar having arcades at the front with rides and rollercoasters behind on the boardwalk part. Similar to so many other piers we've seen this past fortnight and no better or worse than most of them.

#46 Blackpool Central Pier

 

#47 Blackpool South Pier

 

Having finished the selfies we had a lovely game of crazy golf on a testing 12 hole course next to the Pleasure Beach. Sam won by an unprecedented 5 shots and is now the overall leader for this trip with just 1 course left to play. Time to move on....

 

Just up the coast is the resort of Lytham St Annes. It's only a mile away in distance but it's a world away in style. We found the pier and first impressions were very good. From the outside it has a beautiful Victorian pier head building, a fantastic curved green sign and the shops and cafes look inviting. It looked like it had all the necessary ingredients to be a fantastic pier.

 



#48 St Annes Pier

 

 

Behind the façade it doesn't quite live up to expectations and we came away feeling that with just a little bit of effort this decent enough pier could be a GREAT pier.

 

Back to the car and a 45 minute drive to the 5th and final pier of the day, Southport. Once again we had left the best to last. In fact we were so impressed with the pier it has entered our best 3 piers of the trip so far.

 

It's the second longest pier in the UK at 1110 metres and starts well inland before running over a boating lake, car park, road and finally the beach. It has lovely boarding running the length of the pier and beautiful lights on arched posts hanging over the boardwalk.

 

#49 Southport Pier

 

There's a tram that runs down the middle of the pier but it had stopped for the night by the time we had arrived so we took the road train instead. A lovely ride the length of the pier we disembarked outside the café to take a few photo's and enjoy the bracing wind!

 

It's clear to see they've spent the money rejuvenating the sea front in Southport and they have succeeded in building a vibrant area for both locals and tourists alike. It's up there with some of the best resorts we've seen and was a surprising end to a day of real contrasts.

 

 

Miles travelled so far: 2051 miles Piers visited: 49

A long trip to a short pier.....

Some bright spark decided many years ago to build a pier way up North in Saltburn By The Sea. I'd imagine many bright sparks built piers along the North Eastern coast but Saltburn is the only one that still stands.

The upshot of this is that we had a 260 mile detour to see just one pier.

Starting just outside Hull we had a very quick and uneventful journey up the M1 and made it to Saltburn by lunchtime. We easily found parking (with no restrictions or payment required!) just opposite the upper station of the Cliff Railway. Built in 1884 it's a water power funicular railway and we had a very enjoyable, short trip down the side of the cliff in a beautifully restored carriage and exited outside the pier.

 



There's a small arcade at the front of the pier, which is nothing special and needs a lick of paint, but it leads to the boardwalk of the pier which certainly is special and doesn't need a paint job.

It's about 200 metres long and the boards are in great condition thanks to a major restoration of the entire pier in 2000. It all makes for a very aesthetically pleasing look to the pier. Along the side railings there was a knitted scarf with an assortment of knitted items attached (apparently it first appeared in 2012) which added to the charm of this lovely looking pier.




Selfie done we headed along the promenade and up the steps. Halfway up (actually more like a quarter of the way) I realised that it probably would have been a better idea to do the opposite and walk down and get the railway back up. Oh well, with the amount of fish and chips I've eaten in the last 2 weeks I could do with the exercise.

Once back to the top of the cliff, and after a 10 minute rest on the bench, we set off to have a look around the town. First impressions of Saltburn as we drove in was of a very pretty town and nothing we saw since has changed that opinion.

It was a long way to go to visit one pier but the whole package; the pier, the cliff railway, the town made it completely worthwhile and another great chapter in our epic journey.

Next up on our list is Blackpool meaning a cross country drive. We're half way there as we stayed in Skipton, Yorkshire overnight. There may be no piers here but there is a beautiful castle, a stunning canal and a wonderful town centre. It's a trip that just keeps giving......

Miles travelled so far: 1981 Piers visited: 44

When is a mile not a mile.....

When we took the long drive down to Falmouth in Cornwall I thought their miles seemed to take longer to drive than they should but they were nothing compared to a Lincolnshire mile.

We left our hotel in Kings Lynn with Brenda the Satnav estimating a 65 minute journey to Skegness but she either wasn't taking us the quickest route or the council workmen who put up the mileage signs were having a laugh with us tourists. Distances seemed to change randomly with no correlation to the miles travelled and at one point even got bigger despite us driving closer to our destination.

The upshot of it all was it took over 2 hours to get to Skegness and my stress levels were through the roof. Luckily we had planned a relaxing day on the beach at Skegness, so after a spot of lunch, a couple of selfies and an ice cream sundae everything was back to normal.

Now, I used to live in Lincolnshire during my school years and I know all about Skegness. Or at least I thought I did. It used to be a bit of a joke resort and not somewhere you would really want to go for a holiday but boy, how things have changed since the 70's/ early 80's.

It now looks great and it was by far the busiest resort we have seen on our trip so far with thousands of people on the beach, the seafront, the pleasure beach and the pier. It's also by far the cheapest resort we've visited. Where else can you get 6 donuts or a '99' ice cream for a £1?

And the pier? It is by far the best of the amusement type piers we've seen so far. The arcade runs practically the full length of the long pier and is bright, clean and plenty of fun.

#42 Skegness

A short boardwalk at the end of the pier has been added but it's still nowhere near as long as it used to be. That was due to a severe storm in 1978 that took out two sections of the pier and left the theatre part stranded out in the sea. I remember it well as it was all over the local news back then. The stranded section is no longer there but I don't know when it was removed as Penarth's local news didn't deem it newsworthy enough to let me know. It definitely isn't there now though.

After doing all we had to do we decided to spend a couple of hours chilling on the beach and enjoying the sun. One thing that hasn't changed at Skegness is the long walk to reach the sea. And you thought it was bad at Weston. At least there the water is a lot clearer and worth the walk.

Suitably relaxed we got back in the car and headed to our second pier of the day, Cleethorpes. Their pier is still being renovated and is due to open Summer 2015. All I can say is they better be quick because Summer is nearly over! We took our selfie, obscuring the building work, and headed on our way to our overnight stop in Hull. It's a shame we arrived a little to early to see Cleethorpes' new pier because I'm not sure when we'll get to return.

#43 Cleethorpes

An early night was the order of the day as we have a long drive for our next pier, Saltburn By The Sea. It's supposed to be a cracker so we're excited about the day ahead.....

Distance travelled so far: 1751 miles. Piers visited: 43



 

The home straight..........

We're now entering the last week of our adventure and have now visited 41 of the 55 piers in the UK. Yesterday we saw 6 piers in four different towns and over the last 2 days we have visited 10 piers in 3 different counties. By the time we finish we'll need a holiday to get over this holiday!

 

First up on a lovely sunny Sunday was Southwold Pier. The Piers Society had tweeted me in the morning to tell us we were set to see some really nice piers today and they were obviously including Southwold Pier when they wrote that.

 

It is brilliant. Artistically designed, completely unique, immaculate and, well, just a little bit mad! It seems a lot of thought has gone into every shop, room and café on the pier and it just looks great. The highlight of the morning/day (maybe even the holiday) was the assortment of coin operated novelty machines designed by inventor Tim Hunkin in his Under The Pier Show. I imagine he looks similar to one of those eccentric, mad professor types like Doc Brown in Back to the Future. 

 

They are the funniest/funnest (?) machines you will find in the British Isles. Games such as 'Whack A Banker', Crankenstein and Gene Forecaster 2012 had me laughing out loud. My particular favourite, Mobility Masterclass, saw you having to cross a busy road using a zimmer frame! As bonkers as it sounds.

 

I loved Southwold Pier and it's now my favourite pier.....

 

 

#36 Southwold

Next on the list was Lowestoft. They have two piers and after finding a free parking space 100 metres from the first it was a good start. The pier itself is not unlike Felixstowe in that it is simply an arcade with the pier boardwalk out of bounds due to safety reasons.

#38 Lowestoft

The second pier is a concrete jetty that forms part of the harbour. I can only imagine it is classed as a pier because there is an amusement arcade at the front and the sign says South Pier.

Lowestoft looks like a place living under the shadow of its big brother up the coast (Great Yarmouth) and there's not much going on. The fact that a group of around 40 people were watching a couple of diggers move some sand on the beach shows how little there is to do in Lowestoft on a Sunday afternoon.

 

 #39 Lowestoft South

 



Time to see if Yarmouth really is Great.

We located parking right outside the Wellington Pier and after paying the extortionate £4.50 fee we headed over the road to take a look. At the front of the Pier is a big amusement arcade that was opened in 2008 along with a bowling alley in another building behind the arcade. It feels like once you've seen one amusement arcade you've seen them all and we headed along the sea front to the second pier.

#39 Great Yarmouth (Wellington Pier)

 

The second Yarmouth Pier (Britannia) was similar, but older, with arcades, cafes, and a bar at the end of the pier. It's just a bog standard pier that we've seen countless times on this trip and after the delights of Southwold Pier that morning it was hard to muster up much enthusiasm. There was only one thing for it, a game of crazy golf.
 

 

#40 Great Yarmouth (Britannia Pier)

 

Luckily Yarmouth has some excellent courses and the seafront Castaway Island course was a particular delight (although I lost by one stroke to Sam).

 

It was getting late and we had a longish drive ahead of us, first to Cromer for the 6th pier of the day, and then onwards to Kings Lynn for our hotel.

 

Cromer Pier is currently 'Pier of the Year' and it's easy to see why. It's not the flashiest or the smartest pier we've seen but it had one of the best vibes we've felt on a pier this holiday. It was bustling with fishermen, crabbers, people enjoying their fish and chips in the evening sun and a lot of people just sitting, chatting around the bar. It's a great community pier that was very, very busy.

 

#41 Cromer

 

A nice end to a hectic day......

Distance travelled so far: 1571 miles Piers visited: 41

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.