Pier, which appears in films including Brighton Rock and Quadrophenia, is taken off market by Noble Organisation
One of the most famous landmarks on the south coast, Brighton's Palace Pier, known to millions across the world from its many guest appearances in films, has been taken off the market by its owners.
The Noble Organisation, which has owned the pier since 1984, put it up for sale last year for an undisclosed guide price, but now says it forms part of the group's long-term plans.
A statement from the company denied that lack of offers in the throes of the recession and diabolical summer weather were to blame. "Last year's marketing exercise generated a great deal of interest in the pier and a number of substantial offers. However, a change in strategy led us to conclude that the pier will now form part of our longer-term group plans."
The Grade II* listed pier was originally built in 1823 as a passenger landing stage, repeatedly damaged in storms and rebuilt over the next century as an increasingly elaborate entertainment venue including concert and dance halls, bandstands, restaurants and cafes, and a fun fair. The present structure is essentially the final Victorian version, which cost £27,000 to build, opened in May 1899, and still continued to expand, gaining slot machines in 1905, a theatre in 1911, and the dodgems and big wheel by the early 1930s.
Like most of Britain's piers it had to be restored after being deliberately chopped in half in the second world war, when the War Office feared the Germans would stealthily invade by way of the candy floss stall and speak-your-weight machine.
The pier featured in films as early as the 1890s and has since been used in two versions of Graham Greene's classic thriller Brighton Rock. It appears in Quadrophenia, Mona Lisa, The End of the Affair, and Woody Allen's Cassandra's Dream, as well as many television series including an escape by Midsomer Murders to the sea from its landlocked Cotswolds setting. As the perfect backdrop for seaside postcard cheerful vulgarity, it also starred in the 1971 Carry On At Your Convenience, along with Sid James, Kenneth Williams and Hattie Jacques.
The gaudily lit pier overlooks the last burnt and twisted metal fragments of the West Pier, which connoisseurs of seaside architecture regarded as far more beautiful. Designed by Eugenius Birch in 1866, it was the first in Britain to win Grade I listed status, but by the 1970s was in poor condition and closed to the public. Despite an elaborate plan to restore and reopen it, was destroyed in a series of storms and fires – believed deliberate arson attacks – in 2003.
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/oct/26/brighton-palace-pier-withdrawn-sale
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