Brighton’s other pier, the Palace Pier, has now suffered it’s own disaster, catching fire in a rather big way.
Sad as it is, I haven’t got quite as much sympathy with the Palace Pier as I do with the West Pier. The Palace Pier is nowhere near as old, and is really a glorified amusement arcade and funfair.
The Noble Organisation, which runs the Palace Pier, has drastically delayed any work on the West Pier by complaining to the European Commission about plans to use £14.2 million of Lotto money to renovate the West Pier. The commission ruled against Noble – a decision which is now being appealed in the European Courts. As a result, the Lotto money has been sitting in the bank since 1996.
But now to a real disaster. Nasa has set up a website for members of the public to upload photos or video they took of the space shuttle Columbia disintegrating. And the Guardian has an interactive guide to how the tragedy unfolded.
Guy McCusker wrote:
Can’t help but agree with you about the Palace Pier. I particularly disliked the fact that they changed the name to “Brighton Pier”, making the West Pier seem more and more like a lost cause. Grrrr.
Chris Cannam wrote:
“To lose one pier may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose both looks like carelessness.”