£4.2 million Refurbishment Pays Off For Penarth Pier

It is always nice to promote good news as far as our beleaguered piers are concerned, and although £4.2 million is a lot of money in these tough economic times, supporters of Penarth Pier in the Vale of Glamorgan will consider it money well spent.

New lease of life for Penarth Pier

The completion of the renovation works has been marked by an event held at the Pier Pavilion's Room 617, which remembers Penarth’s strong links with Wing Commander Guy Gibson VC, who led the famous Dambuster raids in the Second World War. He married a local woman, and lived in the town before the raids.

As a nice touch, the launch of the Room 617 was attended by members of the armed services and representatives from the current 617 squadron who flew down from Scotland especially. Other test events will follow to ensure that all is working smoothly before the pavilion reopens fully in December.

Director Dr David Trotman says the pier's community use would help it survive in the future, and he was pleased that the town’s connections to Wing Commander Gibson had been highlighted.

"He was one of those iconic figures who a lot of people still recognise," said Dr Trotman. “One of his favourite pastimes when on leave was to play golf at Penarth's Glamorganshire Golf Club. It was here that he heard the news that he had been awarded his Victoria Cross (for the Dambusters' raids)."

Following on from this strong service connection, the room is intended have a future use in helping those from the services with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In fact, the first event was also attended by members of local support groups for PTSD.

Dr Trotman said the reception showed their commitment to support service veterans of conflicts ranging from WWII to the current day Afghanistan who have the condition.

It is some two and a half years since plans for the renovation got the go ahead. The art deco-style pavilion was not in place when the pier first opened in 1895, but resulted from the original wooden pavilion burning down in 1929. Many visitors to the original grand opening arrived by paddle steamer.

American troops wooed local girls at the Pavilion during World War II, and stars such as Gene Vincent, Tom Jones and Petula Clark performed there during its nightclub heydays in the 50’s and 60’s.

Its fortunes faded, but Dr Trotman said that the heart of the new pavilion will be serving the community of Penarth, the Vale of Glamorgan and Cardiff. He also has wanted to reignite the kind of old fashioned tourism which Penarth, and neighbouring Barry, used to be famous for, with visitors arriving there by train.

There will be a community based cinema and there will also be a gallery for hosting exhibitions and events like concerts and musical evenings and a learning space which will provide a programme of work with local children, young people and disadvantaged groups, among them people with Alzheimer's and dementia.

With a projected visitor number of  50,000 visitors to the pavilion in the first year, Dr Trotman feels as though “ we are bucking the trend of what's happened to many piers around the country. But there's an amazing amount of good will and I'm confident it can work."

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