In a recent interview on the Chris Evans Breakfast Show Dr Anya Chapman, Senior Lecturer in Tourism Management at Bournemouth University talks about how the nation has ‘fallen back in love with piers’. In particular she highlights how the more successful piers bring together a national popular culture heritage and 21st century leisure culture, citing Hastings Pier as one example of such an innovative and exciting pier alongside the regenerated art deco style Cleethorpes Pier.
Having visited all 59 remaining piers – not once but twice – she nominates Clevedon Pier as the most ornate pier and also mentions its claim to fame as the location for the One Direction video ‘You and I’.
Our LOVE for and affective attachment to piers is definitely a theme that comes through strongly in our research. People have shared fond memories of good times on the pier with us through our oral history project but also talked about how the pier is a place for anchoring – one’s sense of belonging or one’s sense of connectedness with others.
