When was deal pier built

The first pier appeared in and the original plans by engineer J. Rennie indicated that the structure was to be feet long. The unfinished pier was consequently opened and used as a docking point for steamers. Stone from the ruined Sandown Castle was used for the abutment and the pier itself was built of wrought and cast iron. The full length of the structure was ft and included a 3 deck pier head and a steamer landing stage. Seating ran the full length and a tramway was provided for conveying goods and luggage whilst two attractive toll houses were built at the entrance.

Deal's second pier was officially opened on 8 November but the pier company once again discovered that they were unable to meet the full cost of construction and the pier was handed over to the contractors. The addition of a pavilion on the pier head led to the pier becoming a popular venue for concerts as well as angling. On 19 January the barque Merle hit the pier during a storm causing extensive damage. Repairs were carried out but on 26 January the schooner Alliance also ran into the pier during a storm leading to further major repairs.

Disaster struck with the coming of the second World War, when, in , the Dutch vessel Nora struck a fatal blow. Tim Lucas. Robert Nilsson. Surendra Varsani. Toggle navigation. This pier was damaged by shipping in and in , and then breached by the military but effectively destroyed by ship collision during the war. It was demolished in The third and present pier was built in to a length of 1,ft.

The Nora's stern was blown away and she began to sink so rapidly that only her bow was sticking out of the water when a salvage tugboat raced alongside. Her crew managed to make the hawser fast to the bow. By sheer force the tugboat towed the rapidly sinking ship to the shore. All the Nora's crew are believed safe and on board-another salvage vessel. Later, the rising tide lifted the ship further inshore and drove her through a pier.

The pier, cut in two, had a huge gap between seventy to a hundred yards wide at the shore end. A small Dutch coastal vessel the Nora, struck a mine off the south-east coast yesterday, but was saved from sinking by a salvage tug. The tug's crew succeeded making a hawser fast and although the Dutch vessel's anchor was down, managed by sheer brute force to tow her until she was beached.

It is believed that all her crew were saved by another vessel. Seeing the Dutch motor vessel Nora tons sinking rapidly after striking a mine off the South-East Coast early yesterday, a salvage tug dashed to her aid and, by a brilliant feat of salvage work, saved her from actually foundering. The crew of six were landed, three of them injured. The explosion shook people in their bed at a town on the coast. The Nora began to sink so quickly that only her bow was showing when the tugboat raced alongside and, by sheer force, towed her close to the shore.

Later the rising tide lifted the Nora and drove her clean through the pier. Our cargo was petroleum jelly, which was kept liquefied by the boilers. As the tanker broke in two, petroleum jelly poured out and solidified in a layer quite five feet thick on the top of the waves. A fair haired lieutenant helped us up the scramble nets. Later I asked who he was. I was told: 'Lieutenant Philip. The Duke of Edinburgh has an aversion for long piers, particularly Southend Pier, the longest in the world.

It's a mere ft. Said the Duke:. Stanley Tooth's account of wreck fishing off the S. Patria in with his father Alfred Barham Tooth.

As far as we know, our ancestors were all good honest Victorians from London, who often went on holiday to Deal. Emma Jane was my great grandmother and she is shown here with her two daughters. This photo shows my great grandfather Alfred Barham Tooth waving with his two daughters - from left to right, Lily and Minnie Tooth.

The other people are presumably people local to Deal, hiring out boats at the time. Mr Turner , the film starring Timothy Spall as William Turner, Britain's finest marine artist, has been received with great acclaim. Turner - was introduced to Kent when he was sent from London as a young boy to stay with relatives.

As a mature artist, he returned repeatedly to the coast, particularly Margate, where he was attracted by its spectacular sunsets. Eventually, he began a lifelong liaison with a wealthy widow, Sophia Booth, who kept a guest house on Margate seafront. From there, Turner - a grotesque, portly figure carrying his easel and umbrella that doubled as a fishing rod - traipsed around the coastline gaining inspiration for his spectacular seascapes. Its purpose was to be turned into an engraving for the series, Picturesque Views of the Southern Coast of England.

This exquisite watercolour presents a dramatic scene on Deal beach after a violent storm. Boatmen hastily prepare boats to be launched in a heavy sea to salvage a shipwreck on the Goodwin Sands. Wind-torn flags on their tall masts stand out against a louring sky, illuminated by a streak of ribbon lightning. This is the only instance where Turner introduces a full flash of lightning into one of his paintings. Surprisingly, Turner achieves a powerful effect by employing pastel shades - pinks, creams and greys.

His meticulous details include the sails of the hovelling luggers, the design of the signal flags, the crumbling buildings with their smoking chimneys and curvilinear gables, and, in the far distance, the tiny silhouette of Sandown Castle. The artist made copious notes in preparation for this painting. His sketchbook survives and is preserved in the Tate Gallery. Later, Turner, back in his London studio, worked up his sketches of the North End of Deal into a purely imaginary scene that perfectly conveys the atmosphere of our bustling port.

Whilst at Deal, Turner took the opportunity to be rowed out to the Goodwin Sands. There he watched a cricket match organised by Captain Martin, harbour master of Ramsgate.

Deal appears a second time as the subject for a Turner painting; Deal circa - hangs in the Walker Gallery, Liverpool. Here the artist presents a turbulent scene where a Deal lugger is battling to reach a cluster of sailing ships caught in a sudden storm. Once again, the painting was intended for reproduction in a series of engravings. Its collective title, Harbours of England , is a misnomer because, of course, Deal never possessed a harbour.

Both these canvasses, painted late in life, are highly impressionistic. Features of the port are impossible to discern. His mistress, Sophia, retained a guest house in Deal. It was here that the pair removed when Turner contracted cholera from which, due to his robust constitution, he recovered. Despite Mr Turner's evident fortune, however, the doctor, summoned from Thanet, complained bitterly that he had never once received payment from the artist for his services.

He trained as a schoolmaster at Culham College of Education, Oxfordshire where he gained teaching diplomas in English Literature and Divinity. As an actor he trained at Rose Bruford College of Speech and Drama, Kent, before embarking on a theatrical career, appearing in repertory and repertoire worldwide. For five years he was chief reporter for Kent Life when he became an authority on Kentish subjects. If you have question for Gregory or would like some more information, or would like to just get in touch then you may contact him here.

The appointment of the committee in arose out of the distress which was at that time said to affect the several Channel fisheries, and, in its reports, the committee stated that these fisheries were generally in a very depressed state and on the decline; that they appeared to have been gradually sinking since the peace of ; that the capital employed did not yield a profitable return; that the number of vessels and of the people to whom it gave employment was diminished; and that the fishermen who formerly could maintain themselves and their families by their industry were in a greater or less degree pauperised.

The cause of this unfavourable change, to which, as being in its opinion the most readily susceptible of remedy, the committee gave its principal attention, was the interference of the fishermen of France and Holland; but the principal cause of the distress was stated to be " the great and increasing scarcity of all fish that breed in the Channel " compared with what was the ordinary supply forty years since; operating prejudicially to the fisherman, at the same time that a continual fall of prices has taken place in the markets.

This fall of prices could not have occurred in consequence of any scarcity in the supply. That there was a diminished quantity taken by the English fishermen might possibly have been true; but considering that the supply in our markets was actually increased, so as to provide our growing population at progressively decreasing prices, I can only account for the facts adduced by the committee by supposing that the foreign fishermen, of whose interference such grievous complaint was made, were better skilled and more persevering in their calling than our own countrymen; a supposition which seems to be borne out by the circumstances of our having, since this report was delivered, been still more abundantly supplied with fish for our tables; while the cry of distress on the part of the fishermen has passed away, doubtless owing to the greater degree of skill and industry which they have since exerted.

A complaint, the opposite to that brought forward by the committee, was preferred against our fishermen by the owners of the boats, who alleged that, having advanced all the capital necessary for the undertaking, and having probably also contributed to the support of the men during the dead season, under the faith of an agreement to receive at stipulated prices all the produce of their nets, the men so bound to them sold a considerable part of the fish which they had taken to boats dispatched from the coast of France.

These circumstances have been mentioned because a great and it is thought a groundless impression was created by the result of the inquiry of , which inquiry, it has been alleged, was undertaken to satisfy the desires of certain interested parties, who wished to make out a case for the interference of government.

One branch of fishing wholly different in its objects from all the other branches has been described by the committee of under the title of the Stow Boat Fishery. This fishing prevailed principally upon the Kentish, Norfolk, and Essex coasts: was the catching of sprats, not for food, but as a manure for the land, for which there is always a constant demand.

The facility which the pretence of employing these vessels in fishing gave the smugglers led to an Act of Parliament, 6 Geo. IV, c. The licenses thus granted specified the limits beyond which vessels were not allowed to be employed: this distance was usually four leagues from the English coast; and it was affirmed that our fishermen were injured by this restriction, because some valuable fishing grounds laid beyond the prescribed limits, and were thus abandoned to foreigners.

This scam is still employed today to smuggle contraband into the UK and, in May , a Polish lorry driver, Pawel Michal Maroszek , was caught smuggling 2.

The statute came into force on 5th January Section 2 provided for the forfeiture of any British-owned vessel with contraband on board found within a 12 nautical miles of the coast between North Foreland and Beachy Head, b 24 nautical miles of any other part of the coast or c found to have been within said distances " not proceeding on her voyage, wind and weather permitting ", and section 20 provided for forfeiture of unlicensed British-owned vessels " not square-rigged " found within those distances.

Smugglers " E. Keble Chatterton at pages 96, 97 and to By the summer of smuggling in England and Wales had increased to what the Commissioners of Customs designated as an " alarming extent ". An Act was therefore passed to ensure the more effective prevention of this crime, and once again the revenue officers were exhorted to perform their duty to its fullest extent.

Further, they were threatened with punishment in the case of any dereliction, while rewards were held out as inducements to zealous action. Under the new Act powers were given to the Army, Navy, Marines and Militia to work in concert with each other for the purpose of preventing smuggling, for seizing smuggled goods, and all implements, horses and persons employed or attempting to bring these ashore.

The lack of vigilance, and even the collusion with smugglers, on the part of Revenue officials was still too real to be ignored. Between Dover and Rye, especially, were tobacco, snuff, spirits and tea run into the country to a very considerable extent.

And the Government well knew that. The Deal smugglers went to what Mr. Huskisson called " daring lengths ", and for this reason the Treasury suggested that patrols be established within the town of Deal, and for two or three miles east and west of the same.

And the Treasury also very earnestly requested from the Commander-in-chief every possible assistance from the Army. It was observed, also, that so desperate were these smugglers that, even when they had been captured and impressed, they frequently escaped from the men-of-war and returned to their previous life of smuggling.

To put a stop to this the Treasury made the suggestion that such men when captured should be sent to ships cruising at distant foreign stations …. The commodity could then be kept either for the use of their families and sold to their immediate friends, or sent up to London by the "duffers" in the manner we spoke of in an earlier chapter.

In the instances when spirits were smuggled into the country there was usually some arrangement between the publicans and the smugglers for disposing of the stuff. But, you may ask, how did the Deal boatmen manage to get the tea to their homes without being seen by the Customs officers?

In the first place it was always difficult to prove that the men really were smugglers, for they would be quite wide-awake enough not to bring obvious bales ashore; and, secondly, the Deal men had such a reputation as desperate characters that no officer, unless he was pretty sure that a smuggling transaction was being carried on and could rely, too, on being well supported by other Customs men and the soldiers, would think of meddling in the matter.

But, lastly, the men who came ashore from the East Indiamen had a smart little dodge of their own for concealing the tea. The accompanying picture is no imaginary instance, but is actually taken from an official document. The figure is supposed to represent one of these Deal boatmen, and the numerals will explain the methods of secreting the tea. When all these concealments were filled the man had on his person as much as 30 lbs of tea, so that he came ashore and smuggled with impunity.

And if you multiply these 30 lbs by several crews of these Deal boats you can guess how much loss to the Revenue the arrival of an East Indiamen in the Downs meant to the Revenue. Some time back we called attention to the way in which the Deal boatmen used to walk ashore with smuggled tea.