One woman’s mission to visit every UK pleasure pier as future of beloved attractions ‘are on a knife edge’

Wendy Maylam has spent three years travelling 6,500 miles across 23 counties to visit all of the UK’s seaside attractions, writes Daniel Griffiths

Wendy Maylam and Dottie on Clevedon Pier (Wendy Maylam)

On a grey October morning in 2010, stood atop the White Rock Gardens in Hastings, Wendy Maylam watched as firefighters tended to the charred remains of what was part of her childhood and the pride of the community, her local pier.

“We saw it smouldering … we thought it was the end, and we were shattered by it,” she said.

Having been closed for two years after falling into disrepair, 95 per cent of Hastings Pier was destroyed. Although it looked to be the end of its 138-year history, it reopened in 2016.

“We thought it was the end but it’s come back. It’s a great summer venue with tribute acts and movies, we’re really proud of our pier,” said Wendy.

Fast forward to September 2021 and Wendy embarked on her journey to visit every official pleasure pier in the UK.

Wendy at the pier in Llandudno (Wendy Maylam)

While reading Coast magazine, she came upon an advertisement for the National Piers Society’s Pier Passport – a small, blue booklet encouraging users to check off the officially listed piers as they go and jot down their memories of the visit.

“When we bought it, it was only two quid and we never thought we’d do them all,” she said.

But now, three years and 6,500 miles later, Wendy only has six to go before her challenge is complete.

Wendy intends to polish off the remaining sites in September, and when she does, she’ll have visited 64 piers, 23 counties, two countries, and one British crown dependency.

Born and raised in Hastings and now living in Bexhill, the 54-year-old administrator said the coast has always held a special place in her heart. Whether it was childhood holidays with her mum and dad to Brighton Pier and Weston-super-Mare or watching the waves crash over her local Hastings Pier on wintery nights, the seaside is in Wendy’s DNA.

“Seasides just mean everything to me, I would never ever not live near the sea,” Wendy said. “When I was about 17 or 18, I went to Alton Towers and I was really confused as I couldn’t see the sea. It was really odd.

“I’m fine now, but it was that initial: ‘Oh, I don’t know which way I’m facing.’”

Brighton has one of the UK’s most famous piers (Reuters)

Like for many people, pleasure piers bring a sense of childhood nostalgia. Wendy’s late father worked on the railway and would be allocated 12 free train tickets per year, all of which were used on seaside trips.

“It was simpler times I suppose, because it was pre-internet,” she said. “Dad would write off to the tourist board and we would get a brochure back full of all the flats and caravan parks you could choose.”

Wendy recalls eagerly waiting to hear their destination and with that same youthful enthusiasm, she embarked on her challenge in earnest en route to Truro to visit family. The southern stretch of coast from Dorset to Cornwall boasts a wealth of prominent Victorian pleasure piers from Swanage and Paignton, down to Torquay and Falmouth.

“We were driving there anyway, and Cornwall is such a long way from anywhere so we thought we may as well just keep dipping into the coast and picking them up,” she said.

Wendy’s map of British piers and the National Piers Society’s Pier Passport (Wendy Maylam)

The trips have been shared sometimes with her husband Mike and their greyhound, Dottie, and sometimes with her sister Val, with whom she shares a passion for coastal adventures. The pair made the 16-hour round trip from Bexhill to Cleethorpes and Skegness Pier in February and even woke up at 3am to catch a flight to the Isle of Man to visit Queen’s Pier in Ramsey.

Pleasure piers have traditionally been sites of creative, over-the-top entertainment, be it theatre or arcade attractions, and more recently, Bournemouth’s 250 metre-long zipline – but Wendy prefers a more modest pier experience.

Her favourite is a toss-up between Clevedon Pier, which stretches into the Bristol Channel, or the charming wooden boardwalk on Yarmouth Pier on the Isle of Wight.

Wendy’s final destination will lead her into the Scottish Highlands to visit Fort William Pier, nestled in the shadow of Ben Nevis, at which point she will have travelled over 8,500 miles.

Naturally, there are moments where doubt creeps in: “When you look at Scotland and you look at Roker [in Sunderland], you think, we’re so far from Scotland, can I really be bothered?”

Blackpool is among the UK’s 64 remaining piers (Getty)

But, Toby Carr, who set out to kayak every shipping forecast area in the UK before he died of liver cancer, encouraged Wendy to persevere with her challenge.

“That was a real inspiration,” she said. “I only have to catch a train, I don’t have to kayak around Iceland.”

Her favourite memories are often the small things, such as a prawn sandwich on Swanage Pier, but she said the journey has made her realise how fragile the piers are.

"We went to Southport and it had just shut because the timbers had rotted,” she said.

Piers across the UK struggle to remain financially viable and rely on government and charitable grants such as those from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and the Coastal Revival Fund. From Clevedon to Clacton; Swanage to St Annes – they have all depended on external funding to finance crucial restoration projects and repairs.

Wendy said: “Each pier is probably living on a knife edge I would think,” said Wendy.

She added: “The councils can’t afford or know how to run the existing ones, so they’re not gonna build another one,” she said.

Wendy makes it to Southend (Wendy Maylam)

The last pleasure pier built in the UK was in Deal, Kent in 1957 and Dr Anya Chapman, a principal academic in tourism management at the University of Bournemouth, said there is little chance of another being built.

Dr Chapman, who was a trustee for the National Piers Society for ten years and came up with the passport idea, said the existing piers will need to be adapted to remain financially viable but she added: "They’re going to have to adapt to climate change. In 100 years a lot of our piers are going to be underwater or washed away."

For Wendy, each pier she visits is a reminder that future generations may not have that same privilege.

“Go out and support your pier and local seaside because it’s just brilliant,” she said. “You don’t even have to spend a lot, just bring your sandwiches and you’ll have a great time.”