Brighton's West Pier and its battle with nature

When Anthea Secker learned another section of Brighton's West Pier had collapsed into the sea, she said she was devastated.

The West Pier has become one of the city's most recognisable landmarks - the rugged lines of its metal skeleton have become a familiar part of the city's skyline, alongside the seagull and the Royal Pavilion.

Now, as more storm damage weakens its structure and sends more pieces underwater, residents are reflecting on what the pier means to Brighton and what its future may hold.

"You have to experience it to know how much it means to people. It's like a relationship, and I feel incredibly bonded to it," Secker said.

She added: "The pier has been just such a big part of my life in Brighton. It was a bit of a congregation of youth when I was younger, and now it's part of that view and in our day-to-day lives.

"Some people feel that it should just disappear now, but it's part of this environment that we live in."

As with the construction of many of Brighton's landmarks, the building of the West Pier marked the city's status as a premier getaway for the Victorian elite.

Designed by engineer Eugenius Birch, the 1,115ft (340m) structure opened in October 1866.

It was later expanded to include a 1,400 seat concert hall, which was also used as a 1,000 seat theatre.

The pier was built just a few years after the opening of The Grand Hotel, at a time when seaside piers were proving popular to build.

It became Brighton's second pier after the Chain Pier, which had opened in 1823.

The Chain Pier stood for over 70 years and was later replaced by the Palace Pier, which opened in 1899.

According to the West Pier Trust, the pier had its heyday on 11 July, 1919, less than a year after the end of war, when more than two million people visited it in a single day.

But the pier was hit by war again in 1939, when security around World War Two saw it close.

The pier saw some popularity after the war, including its use in Richard Attenborough's Oh, What A Lovely War! in 1969.

But it never regained its earlier popularity and closed over safety concerns in 1975.

The structure then stood largely unused for decades while multi-million pound restoration schemes were considered.

Age 21, Secker was part of a small group who were able to take a tour of the West Pier in 1997, while restoration attempts were underway.

Armed with a Kodak camera and an excitement to see what very few people had seen up to that point, she and her family were part of the small group able to see what the pier had become before its destruction.

"It was a great day - it felt monumental," she said.

"No one had been on it for a very long time, and you knew that if they were going to restore it, it would be different from then on."

However, two fires, in March and May 2003, decimated what was left of the structure, and it was declared beyond repair in July 2004.

The cause of the fires was never established.

Described at the time as "definitely of doubtful origin", there was unproven speculation in the years since that the fires were arson.

Fire inspectors could not access the pier due to the collapse of a walkway the previous year.

No-one has ever been prosecuted in connection with the blazes.

Since then, more damage has been done through storms, waves and the elements.

In 2004, the middle section of the pier collapsed.

Storm Claudio in November 2022 caused further damage.

The latest collapse, following Storm Austen, has altered the shape of the structure once again.

Questions about the pier's future have been raised many times over the years.

The Brighton i360 was put forward on the same site as a "vertical pier" to replace it.

The attraction has experienced mixed fortunes since opening in 2016.

Fred Gray, a professor at the University of Sussex and honorary historian for the West Pier Trust, said people should accept the structure will one day fall into the sea, and enjoy it for what it now is.

"People should accept it is changing. It may take decades but it will eventually disappear under the waves", he said.

Gray added: "Perhaps quite rightly there would be protests if they tried to clear it.

"I think people should enjoy it as it is now. They should see it as a battle between nature and society."

Gray hopes someone could rebuild a West Pier eventually, or something which celebrates the seaside structure, though he accepts that wreckage under the sea could present a challenge to any future projects.

For now, the West Pier will continue to fall away, and its changing structure will continue to be a focal point for visitors and residents alike.

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