Claremont Pier Restoration Progresses with Community-Sponsored Engraved Boards

The director of Claremont Pier in Lowestoft, Suffolk, has stated that the pier is contributing to the community by providing an opportunity for individuals to have their names inscribed on its new boards. Work is currently underway to restore the pier and install these new boards. As part of the ongoing plans, members of the public can sponsor a board, choosing a name or message to be engraved, which will then be incorporated into the pier’s structure. Ben Llywelyn, the pier’s director, indicated that this initiative has remained popular since its launch several years ago. “When we first started it, it was absolutely crazy. People love it,” he commented. Llywelyn elaborated, “For instance now we’ve got a few people who have bought the boards for loved ones who were fisherman [and] spent most of their lives on the North Sea and now they’ve got a place to remember them.” He added, “There’s no better feeling than giving something back to the community and reopening the pier. Everyone should be able to walk down a pier and for 40 years local people haven’t.” Mr. Llywelyn reported that approximately 1,000 boards were produced during the initial phase of the project, and in the current phase, 200 boards have been sold at a cost of £99 per board. The restoration team has nearly completed 60 meters (196.85 ft) of the pier’s total length. The far end of the pier, which was closed in 1982, remained inaccessible for four decades. “The last little bit will take a bit more money to do and a lot more time,” Mr. Llywelyn further stated. He continued, “It would be brilliant to restore the far end and to even go out further would be even more fantastic.” Llywelyn concluded by saying, “Nothing’s impossible if you put a bit of hard work in and think outside the box.”