'Our piers are all living on a knife edge - support them'

Wendy Maylam’s mission is to visit every UK pleasure pier

- DANIEL GRIFFITHS

On a grey October morning in 2010, stood atop the White Rock Gardens in Hastings, Wendy Maylam watched as firefighters tended to the charred remains of what was part of her childhood and the pride of the community, her local pier. "We saw it smouldering. We thought it was the end, and we were shattered by it," she said.

Having been closed for two years after falling into disrepair, 95 per cent of Hastings Pier was destroyed. Although it looked to be the end of its 138-year history, it reopened in 2016. "We thought it was the end but it's come back. It's a great summer venue with tribute acts and movies, we're really proud of our pier," said Wendy.

Fast forward to September 2021 and Wendy embarked on her journey to visit every official pleasure pier in the UK.

While reading Coast magazine, she came upon an advertisement for the National Piers Society's Pier Passport - a small, blue booklet encouraging users to check off the officially listed piers as they go and jot down their memories of the visit.

"When we bought it, it was only two quid and we never thought we'd do them all," she said.

But now, three years and 6,500 miles later, Wendy only has six to go before her challenge is complete. Wendy intends to polish off the remaining sites in September, and when she does, she'll have visited 64 piers, 23 counties, two countries, and one British crown dependency.

Born and raised in Hastings and now living in Bexhill, the 54-year-old administrator said the coast has always held a special place in her heart. Whether it was childhood holidays with her mum and dad to Brighton Pier and Weston-super-Mare or watching the waves crash over her local Hastings Pier on wintery nights, the seaside is in Wendy’s DNA.