Swanage Pier - Swanage, Isle of Purbeck, Dorset, UK - Piers on Waymarking.com

The planks making up Swanage Pier are all sponsored and have individual plaques; this is an ongoing tradition and there are spaces for many more!

The pier is described on its own unique website:
'The Unique 100+ year old Victorian Pier lies in the Southern area of Swanage Bay.
Swanage Pier is owned and operated by The Swanage Pier Trust, a registered charity and has two paid members with all other tasks being performed by Volunteers.

The Pier Master is a volunteer among the many others who man the gates and operate the Pier Shop and Exhibition.
Separate from The Pier Trust are The Pier Friends who raise funds through their members and perform fund raising activities throughout the year.

Visitors are offered the opportunity of assisting in the upkeep of the Pier, by 'Sponsoring a Plank'. This consists of a brass plaque (14.8cm x 4.5cm) engraved with a short message and embedded in to one of the Pier planks.
All funds contributing to the £125,000 a year continuously required to keep the Pier' Alive'.

Limited parking is available on the Pier and where better to park your vehicle than alongside the waters edge, just to relax and admire the views or to take part in the varied activities.

Thousands come to the Pier to Scuba Dive under the Pier or to board boats to other local dive destinations. An area adjacent to the Pier being buoyed off as a safe Diver training zone.

The Dive shop is operated by Divers Down, here divers can hire equipment, charge up their cylinders or do diver training courses.
Divers Down is celebrating its 50th year of operation in 2008 and is the oldest Diving School in the UK.

The Pier is also the home of the Isle of Purbeck Sub-Aqua Club, an active club of 50 plus members and now in its 20th year.

Others come to the Pier with rod and line. The far end of the Pier being a popular spot to relax and have a days angling.
During the summer months, boats operate from the Pier to Bournemouth, Poole, the Isle of Wight and along the Purbeck Heritage Coast.

Durlston Country Park often operate an 'Under The Pier Show' when visitors can see the varied marine life, as it happens, live on screen without getting wet.

A feature on the Pier is Marine Villas which is the home of Pier Shop. Here you will see many attractions including an Exhibition of of Pier History and a superb display of model RNLI Lifeboats, well worth a visit. One room displays saucy postcards by Donald Mcgill and houses several 'Penny in the Slot' machines still in working order, just purchase some old pennies and go back in time. (open from Easter to November).

Many artifacts have been donated to the Pier by Divers and these are on show in the shop. In the Cafe area, hot drinks and snacks may be purchased along with sweets and a vast variety of small gifts.

There are Ladies and Gents toilets on the Pier each with a hot shower.

The Pier is normally open during the summer months (April - October) from 8am (7am Bank Hols).
Closed approx. 1 hour before dusk. Winter opening 7 days a week from 9-6 until end October, then 9-5.

Donations towards the continuous maintenance of the Pier are always welcome. Please see the Pier Master or contact the Pier Honorary Treasurer on 01929 423636.

The original Swanage Pier was constructed in 1859/60 by James Walton of London for the Swanage Pier and Tramway Company and opened by John Mowlem. The Pier was built primarily for shipping stone. Horses were used to pull carts along the narrow gauge tramway which ran along the Pier and seafront. This was intended as a track to link Swanage and Langton Matravers quarries with the Pier, but local opposition caused the track to finish at the `Bankers` (now known as the Parade) where some of the original track can still be seen.

When George Burt started a steamer service between Swanage, Poole and Bournemouth in 1874, the Pier was being used for day-trippers as well as stone cargo, it soon became clear that the Pier was unable to cope with the ever increasing traffic and it was decided a new and longer Pier was needed.

The first pile of the new Pier was driven on November 30th 1895 and the pier opened to traffic on March 29th 1897.

The first steamer, the P.S. Lord Elgin landed people on May 1st 1896. The last was the P.S. Embassy on August 24th 1966,
In 1940 the landward end of the Pier was blown up as an anti invasion precaution. Following the war,steamer traffic was temporarily revived in 1948 but with the Embassy`s departure in August 1966 the Pier deteriorated for almost 30 years

In 1994, the Swanage pier Trust acquired control of the Pier Company, with the aim of keeping the Pier open to residents and visitors and providing for its eventual total restoration.

Already over £1,100.000 of has been spent on restoring the timber structure,following an enormous amount of construction work,
The renovations were financed by funding of $700,000 from the Lottery & English Heritage, plus other grants amounting to £100,400.
A huge effort from the local community and visitors raised the balance of £299,600 in four years.

In order to keep the Pier from again falling into disrepair and dereliction, £100,000 needs to be raised every year - £60,000 for running costs (kept to a minimum by all the volunteer labour) and £40,000 for planned maintenance Lord Raglan the Pier Trust Patron cut the ribbon to declare the Pier, re-opened, at a colourful and well attended ceremony on Sunday July 27th 1998.'

Type of pier: Public Expenses: 40p for adult walkers, £2.00 for divers, £2.00 for anglers, £6.00 for car parking on the pier, £3.00 for boats - all per day Parking is available: Yes Web site: [Web Link] Contact information: Swanage Pier High Street Swanage Dorset BH19 2AR Handicap Accessible: Yes Fishing Regulations: £2.00 for a day fishing off the pier

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/04/2015 SMacB visited it 05/30/2009 figures visited it

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