Victoria Pier is a pier in the seaside resort of Colwyn Bay, Wales. The pier fell into disrepair and much of it was demolished, it was reopened in 2021 with a reduced length. Visitors can access the pier and see the bay along its length. Some of the original metalwork remains and retains the legal status of a grade-II listed structure. Designed by Mangnall and Littlewoods the pier opened in 1900 and was extended in 1903 to the length of 227m. The first two pavilions built on the pier were destroyed by fire along with a bijou theatre. The third pavilion was built in 1934 and was significantly extended and altered in the 1970s to allow for nightclub and amusement arcade entertainments. From the late 1980s, the pier began to decline with the seaward portion of the pier being closed due to a poor state of repair. The condition of the pier and the entertainments continued to decline until 2008 when it closed. In 2017, part of the pier collapsed onto the beach below. Much of the pier was demolished and then in 2021, reopened without any pavilions or structures.
Construction
Designed by Mangnall & Littlewoods of Manchester, Colwyn Bay's Victoria Pier was one of the later British piers to be built. Construction by the Salford firm of William Brown & Sons began in June 1899. Many of the pier's components were pre-fabricated, and manufactured by the Widnes Iron Foundry. Its official opening was on 1 June 1900, when the architect, Mr. Littlewood, handed a golden key to the pier's owners. As first constructed, the pier was just 316 feet (96 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) wide, comprising a timber promenade deck with seating and railings along its length, and a 2,500 seat pavilion in the Moorish Revival style. The pavilion was set to the right of the deck, with a walkway allowing access to the pier-head to the left. The pavilion's main entrance was flanked on one side by a flower shop and, on the other, by a coffee lounge and cake shop. Inside, the pavilion had a large balcony which extended around three sides of the auditorium and a full orchestra pit. The pier however, has never featured a landing stage. In 1903, the Victoria Pier Company decided to extend the neck to a length of 750 feet (230 m) to facilitate outdoor theatrical performances. The pier featured intricate cast iron balustrades, manufactured by the Widnes Iron Foundry, and similar balustrade designs can be found at Mumbles Pier, and formerly at Grand Pier, Weston-super-Mare and Morecambe's Central and West End Piers.
First and second pavilion buildings
A 600-seat 'Bijou' theatre was built at the pier head in 1917 for the purposes of light entertainment. The first pavilion building was completely destroyed by fire in 1922. The Victoria Pier Company suffered serious financial difficulties after the fire. As a result, Colwyn Bay Urban District Council purchased the pier under the Colwyn Bay (Victoria) Pier Order 1923, and work began immediately to rebuild the pavilion. In July 1923, the second pavilion was opened, at a cost of £45,000. Unfortunately, disaster struck again on 16 May 1933, when the second pavilion was destroyed by fire, followed, on 28 July 1933, by a fire that destroyed the Bijou Theatre.
Third pavilion Colwyn Bay Urban District Council set about rebuilding, and the third pavilion was opened on Tuesday 8 May 1934 at a cost of £16,000, but the Bijou Theatre was never rebuilt. The pavilion was designed by architect Stanley Davenport Adshead, and the rebuilding also involved constructing a cast iron covered walkway, extending to the pavilion, as well as a bandstand in the south-east corner of the pavilion section of the pier. Increasing usage of the pier led the council to introduce a twopenny toll (free after 6pm) in 1936, which included the price of a deckchair and listening to the band. The purpose of the toll, said the council, was to prevent 'indiscriminate lounging on the pier'. In the pavilion, Ernest Binns presented 'The Colwyn Follies', with seats at two shillings, and one shilling and sixpence. During the 1950s and 60s, the pier began a period of gentle decline. In 1953, the pavilion's tearoom, which had been a year-round meeting place for forty years, started closing for the winter. In 1956, the line-up of entertainment in the pavilion was as follows: Monday: bingo, Tuesday: wrestling, Wednesday: amateur talent show, Thursday: old-time dancing, Friday: popular dance, Saturday: young people's dance. 1958 saw the end of the summer variety shows in the pavilion. In 1959, the variety shows were replaced by a small orchestra of six musicians; over 20,000 people paid nine pence each that year to attend the afternoon concerts, with another 10,000 attending in the evenings. By 1961, falling audiences forced the council to reduce the orchestra to three musicians. 1962 saw the council admit defeat for live performances and install pre-recorded orchestral music. The pier saw minor refurbishment and repairs in 1964, and a small amusement arcade was built at the seaward end. Both the amusements and the bandstand were removed in the 1970s.
1970s modernisation In 1968, ownership of the pier passed from the local council to Entam Leisure, a division of Trust House Forte, for just £59,000. Entam Leisure decided that the pier needed modernisation to prosper. This involved building the Golden Goose Amusements in a large new modern building on the pier neck, the opening of the Golden Fry Restaurant in the old tearooms, and the conversion of the pavilion into the Dixieland Showbar. As part of this work, the ornate Moorish toll booths at the entrance to the pier were removed to create an open aspect to the pier entrance. During the 1970s and 1980s, the Dixieland Showbar hosted many live concerts, featuring groups/acts such as Motörhead, The Damned, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Elvis Costello, Slade, The Specials, Cockney Rejects and Black Flag. In 1979, the pier was sold again, this time to Rhyl-based leisure operators, Parker's Leisure. They converted the Dixieland Showbar into CJ's Nightclub and built an extension onto the front of the Golden Goose Amusements, to create a larger entrance/amusements area.
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