Historic Brighton pier collapses

From the Guardian:

For more than 130 years Britain's "Queen of Piers" has withstood the ravages of the English Channel, buffeted by gales.
It has coped with having its walkway tactically blown up in the second world war, with the storms of 1987, and, since its 1975 closure, with increasing dilapidation.

But yesterday the seemingly inevitable happened when the West Pier at Brighton gave up its battle and a large section collapsed into the waves.

Restoration of the landmark pier has been in the planning for some time, but reinforcement work had been held up by legal challenges. Another picture is here.

Posted by David on December 30, 2002 12:46 PM