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Deal's Iron Pier
PICTURES
Rough Sea
Going .
Going ..
Going ...
Gone!

 

 The photograph on the left was kindly sent to me by Colleen Peacock in Toronto, whose great grandfather was a Royal Marine in Deal.

Click on the picture to see the same view as it appears today.

On 29th January 1940 the steamship Nora collided with the old Victorian pier, demolishing a large section of it near the landward end.  The ship ended up grounded and capsized on the beach to the north of the pier.
Going .
Going .

High winds and heavy seas drive the Nora into the centre of the Victorian pier.

Going ..
Going ..

The iron structure buckles and bends under the impact.
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Going ...

Eventually, the structure gives way and the stricken vessel passes through the gap before stranding on the beach.

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Gone!

The wind has died down and the sea is like a mill-pond.  The Nora lies on her starboard side on the beach.

The remaining sections were later demolished to make way for the present pier, opened by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh in 1953.

For more pictures of the old pier and its environs, see the Collyer/Attersoll collection.

Pictures courtesy of Mr Hedley Howard of Walmer