Southwold, Suffolk - Pier - 'silhouette' - postcard

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  'Silhouette' - Southwold Pier, Suffolk
• Publisher:  Gareth  Hacon
• Postally used:  no
• Stamp:  n/a
• Postmark(s): n/a
• Sent to:  n/a
• Notes / condition: 

Please ask if you need any other information and I will do the best I can to answer.

Image may be low res for illustrative purposes - if you need a higher definition image then please contact me and I may be able to send one. No cards have been trimmed (unless stated).

------------------------------------------------

Postage & Packing:

Postage and packing charge should be showing for your location (contact if not sure).

No additional charges for more than one postcard. You can buy as many postcards from me as you like and you will just pay the fee above once. Please wait for combined invoice. (If buying postcards with other things such as books, please contact or wait for invoice before paying).

Payment Methods:

UK - PayPal, Cheque (from UK bank) or postal order

Outside UK: PayPal ONLY (unless otherwise stated) please.   NO non-UK currency checks or money orders (sorry).

NOTE: All postcards are sent in brand new stiffened envelopes which I have bought for the task. These are specially made to protect postcards and you may be able to re-use them. In addition there are other costs to sending so the above charge is not just for the stamp!

I will give a full refund if you are not fully satisfied with the postcard.

----------------------------------------------

Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

*************

Southwold Pier is a pier in the coastal town of Southwold in the English county of Suffolk. It is on the northern edge of the town and extends 190 metres (620 ft) into the North Sea.

The pier was built in 1900 as a landing stage for steamships that brought tourists from London^[2] Clacton and Great Yarmouth until the 1930s.^[3] It was 270 yards (250 m) in length and finished with a T-shaped end.

The ownership of the pier transferred from that of the Coast Development Company following its winding up in 1906, to The Amusement Equipment Company.^[3]

The landing stage of the pier was destroyed during a storm in 1934, with the T-shaped end being swept away.^[2] An addition to the pier of a concert hall and amusement arcade was made during 1937 at the shore end of the pier.^[2]

During the Second World War the pier had a section removed due to the fear of its use during an invasion. Further damage occurred from an impact with a mine. The pier was rebuilt after the war at a cost of £30000.

Further damage caused by storms in October 1955^[3] and February 1979^[3] left the length of the pier at 20 yards (18 m).^[2]

In 1960, a part of the pier pavilion was transformed into the Neptune Bar public house.^[3]

Parts of the pier were further restored during 1987 where additional work was carried out to both the theatre and function room. After the reconstruction the pier then reopened in December 1988.^[3]

The pier was bought by Chris Iredale in 1987 and he first spent five years turning the pavilion into a profit-making business.^[4] A major refurbishment program was started in 1999 in order to rebuild the pier. This was completed in 2001 almost 100 years after it was first opened.^[2] In 2002 a new T-Shaped end was added,^[2] bringing the pier to a total length of 208 yards (190 m). This additional length now allows the pier to accommodate visits by Britain's only surviving sea-going steam passenger ship, the PS Waverley paddle steamer and its running mate the MV Balmoral.

Whilst many English seaside piers are in decline, Southwold Pier is enjoying renewed popularity.^[1] It includes a collection of modern coin-operated novelty machines designed and constructed by the inventor Tim Hunkin.

Southwold is a small town on the North Sea coast, in the Waveney district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located at the mouth of the River Blyth within the Suffolk Coast and Heaths Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The town is around 11 miles (18 km) south of Lowestoft, 29 miles (47 km) north-east of Ipswich and 97 miles (156 km) north-east of London. It is within the parliamentary constituency of Suffolk Coastal. The "All Usual Residents" 2011 Census figure, for the town, gives a total of 1,098 persons (q.v.). The 2012 Housing Report, produced by the Southwold and Reydon Society, concluded that, in that year, the percentage of housing in the town, used as second homes and holiday lets, was 49%. ^[2]

Southwold was mentioned in Domesday Book (1086) as a fishing port, and after the "capricious River Blyth withdrew from Dunwich in 1328, bringing trade to Southwold in the 15th century",^[3] it received its town charter from Henry VII in 1489. Over the following centuries, however, a shingle bar built up across the harbour mouth, preventing the town from becoming a major Early Modern port: "The shingle at Southwold Harbour, the mouth of the Blyth, is ever shifting," William Whittaker observed in 1887.^[4]

Southwold was the home of a number of Puritan emigrants to the Massachusetts Bay Colony in the 1630s, notably a party of 18 assembled under Rev. Young, which travelled in the Mary Ann in 1637.^[5] Richard Ibrook, born in Southwold and a former bailiff of the town, emigrated to Hingham, Massachusetts, along with Rev. Peter Hobart, son of Edmund Hobart of Hingham, Norfolk. Rev. Hobart had been an assistant vicar of St Edmund's Church, Southwold after graduating from Magdalene College, Cambridge.^[6] Hobart married in America Rebecca Ibrook, daughter of his fellow Puritan Richard Ibrook. The migrants to Hingham were led by Robert Peck, vicar of St Andrew's Church in Hingham and a native of Beccles.^[7]

In 1659 a fire devastated most of the town and damaged St Edmund's Church, whose original structure dated from the 12th century. The fire created a number of open spaces within the town which were never rebuilt. Today this "series of varied and very delightful village greens"^[8] and the restriction of expansion because of the surrounding marshes, have preserved its genteel appearance.

On the green just above the beach, descriptively named Gun Hill, the six 18-pounder cannon commemorate the Battle of Sole Bay, fought in 1672 between English and French fleets on one side and the Dutch (under Michiel de Ruyter) on the other. The battle was bloody but indecisive and many bodies were washed ashore. Southwold Museum has a collection of mementos of the event. It has occasionally been said that these cannon were captured from the Scots at Culloden and given to the town by the Duke of Cumberland, who had landed at Southwold in October 1745 having been recalled from Europe to deal with the Jacobite threat, but they are much larger than those used by Charles Edward Stuart's army in that campaign. During World War I, it was widely thought that these cannon were one reason why this part of the coast was bombarded by the German Fleet as a "fortified coast". In World War II the cannon were prudently removed, reputedly buried for safety, and returned to their former position after hostilities.^{[citation needed]}