The West Pier in Brighton

Brighton's West Pier circa 2003
The pier was designed and engineered by Eugenics Birch and was opened in 1866.
Over the decades it developed into a fully-fledged seaside entertainment destination, offering a theatre, a concert hall, pavilion, bandstand and shops.
After the Second World War, the pier fell into decline, with tourists preferring Sombreros and Sangria to Double Diamond and Kiss Me Quick hats, the neglected pier fell into disrepair, and was declared unsafe and closed to the public in 1975. Locals launched a battle to revive the pier, and after the granting of a £14.2m Lottery award in 1998, there was real hope that this beautiful old pier would return to life.
The pier fell into the sea after a huge storm in December 2002, swiftly followed by two arson attacks in 2003.
It was opened on 25 November 1823 and was the first pleasure pier opened, in the UK.