Weston-Super-Mare pier burns down, gets rebuilt

[tom_craggs]

The tropicana has only been shut down for about 7-8 years. I was the first perosn in weston in there. Our primary school was practically opposite it and they let us in for asplash about pre-official opening. I was changed second then knocked over danny murphy just before he reachd the water. Victory was mine.

I have vivid memeries of the Tropicana when I was a kid, ahtough my primary school was in Burnham so I guess I was an outsider.

This was my last view of it;

 

[marty21]

that's sad, i went there as a kid as well, it was the nearest seaside place to bath

 

[Geri]

that's sad, i went there as a kid as well, it was the nearest seaside place to bath

It's not the sea!!

*hides from butchers*

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Maybe one had been left on over night.

maybe the owners assumed their kitchen was hot because of the heat outside rather than the fryer

 

[marty21]

It's not the sea!!

*hides from butchers*

well it felt like the seaside and that - and i was very young, and didn't know my bristol channel from my english channel

 

[DRINK?]

Why are piers always made of wood??? They are always burning down....I know metal rusts though what do they make oil rigs out of?

 

[butchersapron]

The pier itself is made of metal. The stuff that sits on top was largely made of wood.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

Why are piers always made of wood??? They are always burning down....I know metal rusts though what do they make oil rigs out of?

The floorboards etc. would be wood

 

[marty21]

plus - walking bare foot on wood in hot weather = ok
walking bare foot on metal on hot day =

 

[untethered]

The pier itself is made of metal. The stuff that sits on top was largely made of wood.

What's odd, though, is that if you look at the photographs the colour of the flames is really too light for that just to be wood burning. That would suggest the presence of some other kind of material.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

plus - walking bare foot on wood in hot weather = ok
walking bare foot on metal on hot day =

and metal = a lot more slippery than wood

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

What's odd, though, is that if you look at the photographs the colour of the flames is really too light for that just to be wood burning. That would suggest the presence of some other kind of material.

oil for the fryer?

 

[marty21]

The tropicana has only been shut down for about 7-8 years. I was the first perosn in weston in there. Our primary school was practically opposite it and they let us in for asplash about pre-official opening. I was changed second then knocked over danny murphy just before he reachd the water. Victory was mine.

poor murphy, his chance of greatness snatched from his grasp

 

[_angel_]

Not to be tactless but it is a shithole. I'm not happy about great big burning things (unless they contain Edward Woodward), but the Pier is a joke, though popular.

Sadly, when I went back (minus tropicana) I was forced to agree.

 

[untethered]

oil for the fryer?

According to my preliminary calculations you'd need about four swimming pools' worth of cooking oil to account for the effects we've seen.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

According to my preliminary calculations you'd need about four swimming pools' worth of cooking oil to account for the effects we've seen.

what about metal and plastic?

 

[Roadkill]

According to my preliminary calculations you'd need about four swimming pools' worth of cooking oil to account for the effects we've seen.

All of the contents of the buildings will have gone up - carpets, furnishings, electrical equipment, anything stored on the premises and so on. Then there's the wood itself. Much of it is likely to be pretty old and impregnated with decades' worth of accumulated paint, varnish, creosote and other assorted preservatives. I imagine that little lot will account for some of the effects...

 

[Awesome Wells]

According to my preliminary calculations you'd need about four swimming pools' worth of cooking oil to account for the effects we've seen.

And exploding arcade machines: no one wants to die by being slotted with a molten two pence piece from the cakewalk machines!

 

[Hocus Eye.]

I remember when Torquay pier was burnt down. It was in the process of being re-furbished and I understand it was accidentally set on fire by a workman's blowlamp. Afterwards there was not enough money to re-build it so they just replaced the floor boards and put a long line of sheltered seats up the middle. It is fine if you just want a long walk on a long pier but that brings in no revenue. In that same part of the coast is Paignton pier which has been refurbished in the last few years using aluminium panels rather than wood. I suppose it is safer provided nobody fires an exocet missile at it.

You would think that piers being rather closer to the sea than anything other than a boat would have ready access to vast quantities of water for putting out fires. A series of pipes running the length of the pier could have electric pumps driven by rechargeable batteries sucking up water from a filtered pickup place under the pier and spraying the water over the pier triggered by a fire detector.

I like piers and am always saddened by the loss of one. I remember the Brighton Pier burning down at a time when it was rumoured to be going to have a renovation and then turned into a restaurant.

 

[Minnie_the_Minx]

You would think that piers being rather closer to the sea than anything other than a boat would have ready access to vast quantities of water for putting out fires. A series of pipes running the length of the pier could have electric pumps driven by rechargeable batteries sucking up water from a filtered pickup place under the pier and spraying the water over the pier triggered by a fire detector.

When Southend Pier burnt down, they dropped water from the air as the tide was out

 

[corporate whore]

You would think that piers being rather closer to the sea than anything other than a boat would have ready access to vast quantities of water for putting out fires. A series of pipes running the length of the pier could have electric pumps driven by rechargeable batteries sucking up water from a filtered pickup place under the pier and spraying the water over the pier triggered by a fire detector.

Ah, but the tide goes out much, much further at W-s-M than anyone could possibly imagine

Poor Weston. Not been there in years. No pier, no Tropicana, no nothing.

((((Weston))))

 

[Geri]

What's odd, though, is that if you look at the photographs the colour of the flames is really too light for that just to be wood burning. That would suggest the presence of some other kind of material.

There were loads of gas canisters inside as well.

 

[steveo87]

I live not far (within a couple of streets) from it and a it looks horedouse but apparently the origianl design had a thick steel platform under the wooden planks so that it would spread to the struts holding it and basically destroy the pier (similar to the Burnbeck pier just down the road) which means as long as the danamege isn't too bad on the struts and the steel platfrom it sohlud be relativly easy to build a new one...

 

[Gerry1time]

Poor Weston. Not been there in years. No pier, no Tropicana, no nothing.

Nothing?

 

[Awesome Wells]

Ah, but the tide goes out much, much further at W-s-M than anyone could possibly imagine

Poor Weston. Not been there in years. No pier, no Tropicana, no nothing.

((((Weston))))

That's not true, you can pay some gypos to ride on their mistreated donkeys, sunbathe on the beach amid the turds, join the boy racer chorus around the seafront, or get in a fight in a nightclub before fading into obscuirty amid tatty posters for Jim Davidson's comedy tour at the playhouse. Or watch a fake band pretend to be Queen.

 

[untethered]

Nothing?

That's a worthless peer, not a worthless pier.

 

[claphamboy]

That's a worthless peer, not a worthless pier.

lol

 

[fizzerbird]

Bombscare and I were on the pier eating a chip supper at 8'0clock last night...we just decided to drive out. have munchies and watch the sun go down.

I'm so glad we did. I can't believe it's gone. Gutted

 

[fizzerbird]

Babe!

Just spotted this thread hon...already posted on Geri's!

I'm soooo glad we decided to go there last night, can't quite believe we were there and then this morning it's no longer. How feking freaky is that!

I almost couldn't be arsed to go but went anyway. It's like I was given a chance to say goodbye to an old friend from my childhood and that of my sons childhood. Pity my grandchildren won't see it.

 

[breasticles]

That's not true, you can pay some gypos to ride on their mistreated donkeys, sunbathe on the beach amid the turds, join the boy racer chorus around the seafront, or get in a fight in a nightclub before fading into obscuirty amid tatty posters for Jim Davidson's comedy tour at the playhouse. Or watch a fake band pretend to be Queen.

or you can buy a ticket to go and see the glenn miller orchestra. doesn't matter what time of year you go to weston, the glenn miller orchestra will be playing the weekend afterwards. FACT.

i was in weston yesterday, people watching and paddling and swooning in the sun. i was also there this morning- my hostess came in at 8am and said 'the pier's on fire, i'm going to have a look, you coming?'. i was knackered after a rubbish night's sleep so i declined. i'm only a latecomer to the region so while it's very sad to see it go, i don't have the same emotional ties to the pier as she did, and i think i would have felt like a spare part.

re: the 28/7 conspiracy theories- my friend did say that there was molten metal running off from the flames into the sea... was that melting two pence pieces from the arcade, or something more sinister? thermites? i don't have any answers, but someone's got to ask the questions...