Garth Pier, Bangor, Wales - May 07, 1995
Garth Pier, was opened in 1896 by Lord Penrhyn. It was designed by London-based engineer JJ Webster and cost £17,000 to construct. Its primary purpose was to enable steamships from Liverpool and other locations to bring passengers to Bangor. A narrow-gauge baggage railway carried passengers’ luggage along the pier’s 472-metre length. Smaller vessels shuttled between Garth Pier and Llandegfan or Beaumaris, on the opposite side of the Menai Strait.
The pier, unusually, was not altered by the addition of theatres and other entertainment facilities though it did suffer damage when a cargo ship the SS CHRISTIANA collided with it in 1914.
Long distance steamer services came to an end following the introduction of screw propelled ships by the Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Company between the World Wars. Berthing these vessels at Bangor and also at Beaumaris proved difficult and calls were halted, though the ferry services across the strait continued.
Garth Pier closed to the public in 1971 as the structure had deteriorated and it appeared that the then owner of the pier Arfon Borough Council, then owner of the pier, would demolish it. However, Garth Pier was saved by Bangor City Council, the organisation bought the pier in 1978 for just 1p. Restoration began began in 1982, with funding from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, Manpower Services Commission and Welsh Office.
The pier reopened to the public in 1988, and today is considered one of Britain’s most unspoilt Victorian piers. Bangor City Council remains its owner. However, the pier’s future is once again uncertain as maintenance is needed. A bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund in 2015 proved unsuccessful.
