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Rhyl Pier

Buildings and structures demolished in 1973Demolished buildings and structures in WalesPiers in WalesUse British English from December 2020
The pier, Rhyl, Wales LOC 3751627315
The pier, Rhyl, Wales LOC 3751627315

Rhyl Pier, officially known as the Victoria Pier, was a pleasure pier in the seaside town of Rhyl, Flintshire, and the first to be built in North Wales. Designed by James Brunlees and opened in August 1867 at a length of 2,355 feet (718 m), it was the town's central attraction for the ensuing years. Following dispute and public consultation regarding the location it would be built, the pier was constructed near the centre of the esplanade. The pier's Grand Pavilion, built in 1891, featured the world's largest organ, known as the Grand Jubilee Organ and weighed 25 tonnes (28 short tons). Several incidents occurred during the pier's lifespan, in particular during the late 19th century of boats crashing into the pier. In 1897, celebrity diver Tommy Burns fatally dived 100 feet (30 m) off the pier, observed by around 3,000 people and was declared dead shortly after being brought out of the sea. The following year in 1898, early filmmaker Arthur Cheetham presented his 'living pictures' to a full audience in the Grand Pavilion. Following years of dereliction, the pier was purchased by Rhyl Council by auction in 1913 and was operational from the 1930s until the mid-1960s, at which point it was declared unsafe and closed. Despite reports in October 1966 that the council were prepared to consider offers to reconstruct the pier, this did not materialise and it was subsequently demolished in March 1973.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Rhyl Pier (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 53.32355 ° E -3.49211 °
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Address


LL18 1HB , Rhyl
Wales, United Kingdom
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The pier, Rhyl, Wales LOC 3751627315
The pier, Rhyl, Wales LOC 3751627315
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Prescott punch
Prescott punch

In the evening of 16 May 2001, John Prescott, the British deputy prime minister, was hit in the face by an egg while walking to a Labour Party election rally at the Little Theatre in Rhyl, North Wales, in the run-up to the 2001 United Kingdom general election. Prescott hit the protester who had thrown the egg, agricultural worker Craig Evans who now works as an enforcement officer for Natural Resources Wales, with a left-handed jab. A brief scuffle ensued, during which Prescott was pushed into a wall before police and Labour Party supporters moved Evans away. The incident came on the same day that the Labour Party's election manifesto had been launched. Earlier in the day Prime Minister Tony Blair had been confronted by an angry relative of a patient in a Birmingham hospital, and Home Secretary Jack Straw had been jeered at a conference of the Police Federation of England and Wales. Labour's senior leadership were divided on how to respond to the incident, which Prescott characterised as an act of self defence. Alastair Campbell, Downing Street Director of Communications, told Prescott to apologise but he refused. Sky News broke the first news of the incident and were threatened with a libel suit by Labour. Chancellor of the Exchequer and Labour's election campaign leader Gordon Brown stood by Prescott, though Blair thought an apology should have been made. The story led most newspapers on 17 May and coverage was generally not negative. Blair referred to the incident in a cautious manner at that morning's press conference but it became clear that the press were treating it as a humorous occurrence. Polls found that the public were supportive of Prescott's response to being egged at close range and it did not affect Labour's poll standing. Labour won the election, with a slightly reduced but still very large majority.