Eastbourne Pier is a 300-metre pleasure pier on Grand Parade, finished in 1870. It sits dead on the Airbourne display line: aircraft run the seafront with the ironwork in the foreground and Beachy Head beyond. Shops, a tea room and an amusement arcade sit along the deck. It is free to walk on.
Designed by Eugenius Birch and opened in 1870. A storm wrecked the landing stage in 1877; a fire gutted the landward end in July 2014. The pier reopened in 2016 and is Grade II* listed. The 2010 film Brighton Rock used it as a stand-in for Brighton.
During Airbourne
This is the postcard shot of Airbourne, and also the worst place to be during a fast-jet slot. The deck is narrow, the crowd stops, and you cannot get off quickly. Walk it in a gap, then stand on the prom or the beach either side. Commentary on 87.7 FM will tell you when the next jet is due.
Worth knowing
- Do not start walking the pier when a Typhoon or jet slot is next.
- Best photo: from the shingle just east, looking back at the pier with the hotels behind.
- Toilets and a tea room on the deck if the lawns queues are grim.
Photographs
