hastings pier fire

[jane_ogborne]

I cannot believe the Hastings pier has burnt down. A sad day.

[Geoff]

It's so depressing that our historic landmark has virtually gone. the crowds of unhappy locals made it even more of a sorry site this evening.

Here's some photos from the RNLI and South Today_ _ _


[img://www.hastingsforum.co.uk/forums/sf_attachments/Picture1.jpg]

[img://www.hastingsforum.co.uk/forums/sf_attachments/Picture2.jpg]

[img://www.hastingsforum.co.uk/forums/sf_attachments/Picture3.jpg]

[img://www.hastingsforum.co.uk/forums/sf_attachments/Picture4.jpg]

[img://www.hastingsforum.co.uk/forums/sf_attachments/Picture5.jpg]

[img://www.hastingsforum.co.uk/forums/sf_attachments/Picture6.jpg]

[Marina]

On holiday in Spain at the mo. I am not looking forward to coming back to Hastings and seeing this in the flesh. I know it was closed for a few years but the pier was a great landmark all the same. History goes up in smoke

[matt_carter]

It was a sad day in the history of Hastings this morning. Upon reading the news that our beloved pier had been destroyed by fire was heart breaking.

And even tho this is a terriable tragedy, lets try to look to the future!Hopefully the underlying structure is salvageble, and if this is the case then there is opertunity to rebuild BIGGER and BETTER. The money that many people have worked hard to raise to save it could easily go towards rebuilding, lets get behind it and hopefully it can rise again from the ashes.

[Jules382]

So so sad, yet another nail in the Hastings coffin. I really hope that it can be rebuilt, but I think we have to face up to the glaring fact that Hastings Council have a totally awful history of not getting behind things that really matter for the town. The whole vibe of the town will change with the loss of this grand old building. I fear that in the weeks to come the Council will trot out the same meaningless old rhetoric, "survey suggests" "awaiting feasibility report" "structure maybe too dangerous" and nothing will be done while they shuffle papers to and fro and it will be left to fall into the sea as it has been over the past years. I truly hope that the Council proves me wrong and that the pier can be rebuilt and turned into the attraction that the town so desperately needs, but I doubt it.

[terry_again]

If the council throw money at a pier at the same time as government spending cuts are threatening other services and amenities, it would be obscene. If the pier is to live again, someone else will have to pay for it.

I gather the council were unable to contact the pier's former owners in South America, so perhaps someone who knows about these things should take a look and see if they own anything else in Britain or if there are any shareholders living here. The irresponsible attitude of the pier's former owners, who left it to rot, suggests that they are unfit to conduct business in this country and any British assets should be siezed as compensation immediately. The same goes for the owners of other large abandoned buildings who leave them to rot.

If the law does not allow this, then the law needs changing. Perhaps our new MP can start earning her salary and expenses and get it changed.

It appears that this fire may have been started by two teenage lads who probably had no idea of what they were doing or that the fire would spread so quickly and cause such total devastation. I'm not defending them, but the owners of these huge fire hazards and their lawyers know exactly what they are doing and employ every legal loophole going to avoid their responsibilities.

Plenty of people are condeming the two lads who were arrested, even though nothing has yet been proved. Where is the anger about the mega rich property speculators who own these abandoned buildings and who's negligance has been proved beyond all possible doubt?

Is this just a problem locally, or are (as I suspect) similar things happening nationwide?

[karmaguy]

Very sad but i think something positive will come from this.

[Anonymous1]

Here's one I took a while back "Vandalism" or perhaps "The End of the Pier":




Vandalism by Laser II, on Flickr


_ _ __ _ __ _ _as Terry suggests, I guess the pier's been vandalised at several levels.





[img[/img]http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4084/5070659859_00fb5dc769.jpg[/img[/img][/url[/img]


[url=http://www.flickr.com/photos/34727332@N04/5070659859/[/img]Vandalism[/url[/img] by [url=http://www.flickr.com/people/34727332@N04/[/img]Laser II[/url[/img], on Flickr


_ _ __ _ __ _ _as Terry suggests, I guess the pier's been vandalised at several levels.

[Geoff]

I found this video really interesting. Some footage of the last official visit to Hastings Pier by The Pier Trust and English Heritage.

24th September 2010 - just 11 days before the fire

Final Visit to Hastings Pier

[Marina]

[quoted]
Administrator wrote:

I found this video really interesting. Some footage of the last official visit to Hastings Pier by The Pier Trust and English Heritage.

24th September 2010 - just 11 days before the fire

Final Visit to Hastings Pier

[/quoted]

Wow, that video brings back so many memories.
Raves in the ballroom, Pier Pressure in the nightclub upstairs.
The way the cafe had been left was kind of eerie you have to admit.