Walking along the seafront after lunch

Palace Pier

Brighton Pier will always be to me The Palace Pier.  As a child my father used to take me for a walk along the seafront every Sunday after lunch, the Pier being our final destination.

Trying to avoid the gaps!
I have wonderful memories of walking along the decking avoiding the gaps, case I should slip through to meet my fate before having had a go on the 2p slot machines and a bag of chips!

The tale of the mysterious eel
I also remember an urban myth regarding an enormous conga eel that supposedly lives/lived in the water between the Pier and the groin to the left (Hove side), the eel apparently used to feed off small children that dared to paddle at this particular spot. There is a hole in the wall of the groin with some flimsy metal caging over the entrance, this is where the eel would lay in wait for its victims.”

Comments about this page

  • I also was taken on the pier as a child and remember the Hall of Mirrors and The Ghost Train which I was terrified of – there was a skeleton hanging out of the wall. I also used to be scared of the gaps in the pier floor! It was 2d when I was a kid.

    By Sue Burtenshaw (19/07/2005)
  • Thanks for a beautiful view of the Palace Pier Theatre building just prior to its sad demolition. I was only fifteen in ’86, but was old enough to sense the town’s loss.

    By Sam Flowers (22/10/2005)
  • It is the most beautiful place!!!!! I love Brighton

    By Idoia (16/12/2005)
  • Thanks for the photograph of Palace Pier. I have a photograph from the 1970s, whose location I could not remember, and have searched in vain until I found your picture. Thank You.

    By David J Turner (28/04/2006)
  • I was told the tale of the ‘huge Conger eel’ too and I never swam there!  In fact the ‘tunnel’ covered with a grating is the seaward outlet of an underground stream that I think is called the ‘Wellsbourne’ and whch flows down Lewes Road with an underground tributary flowing down London Road joining it south of St. Peter’s Church.

    By Adrian Baron (24/01/2007)
  • Next to the Royal Pavilian, The Pier is Brighton and as a boy in the fifties and sixties it had everything. Because money was tight on “special” occasions (birthdays) I was allowed to have a ride on the timber speed boat that use to speed up and down the coast, and as it past under The Pier we were told to “hold tight” because of the giant electric eel that lived below!

    By Paul Wheatley (26/06/2007)
  • I spend many weekends on the pier. My mother used to work in the cafe on the pier. It was a very exciting place and lots of fun. That was back in the 60s.

    By Shirley King (08/03/2009)
  • We’re remaking the film Brighton Rock and I’m desperately looking for photos or pictures of Palace Pier in the early 60s. Any wide shots from the promenade or anything actually on the pier showing the original signage, theatre posters etc. Any contributions would be greatly appreciated!

    Editor’s note:

    Kellie: contact the Brighton History Centre, they will be able to help you. Phone: 01273 296972
    Maybe you could let us all know about the remake – lots of people here would love to hear about it. jennifer@mybrightonandhove.org.uk


    By Kellie Waugh (03/09/2009)
  • I’m just loving reading all the thoughts on this “my Brighton and Hove” site. My sisters and I spent many hours on the pier, being taught to waltz and foxtrot by dad in the open air dance floor at the end, sitting with our sketch-pads looking east to the cliffs, eating our sandwiches. Even on cooler windy winter days we’d walk out to the end keeping to the shelters. I even remember going to the theatre seeing “Bless the Bride” when I was junior school age, one of my teachers was in the show I recall.

    By Simone Walton (09/09/2009)
  • I am currently working on a project for my university and would love to hear from anyone kind and willing enough to contact me with their memories of the Pier. What I am looking at is how the pier has changed, both the buildings and in the eye of the visitor. (at 21, my own memory only reaches so far!) would love someone to contact me in the next few weeks if possible on sw273@sussex.ac.uk.

    By Sarah Walton (23/04/2012)

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