84 Years and Celebrates in style

Many people dream of a 'different' birthday gift and 84 year old George was no exeption. He thought it would be another fine birthday lunch at the Herne Bay Golf Club but instead, found himself flying around the skys of Herne Bay and Whitstable in the bell Longranger.

George said 'it was the best birthday present I have ever had, and ive had a few'

Just in view is the Herne Bay Pier, The original pier at Herne Bay was not only one of the earliest piers to be built, but was also by far the longest at that time. The famous engineer Thomas Telford approved the design of the first wooden pier, with its notable T-shaped head, and it officially opened in 1832. It was an incredible 3,633ft (1,101m) in length and had cost a staggering £50,000 to build. Constructed initially to form part of a route for continental passengers travelling between London and Dover, the enormous length of Herne Bay Pier was required due to the very shallow shoreline. As alighting passengers could not be expected to transport their luggage along such a distance, a sail-powered trolleyway was built, making its debut run on 13th June 1833.

Resulting from storm damage in 1953, the re-opened pier finally closed in 1968 when it was found to be in a dangerous state. The Grand Pavilion remained open at the shoreward end but was destroyed by fire in 1970, whilst work was being carried out on the pier entrance. A new sports and leisure centre, officially opened by the Rt Hon Sir Edward Heath on 5th September 1976, seen on the picture, has replaced the pavilion. Local anglers were among a group of campaigners pressing for the pier neck to be restored, but a severe storm on 11th January 1978 ended all speculation as the majority of the pier neck collapsed, leaving the head isolated at sea.