Pier Tokens For The Carousel, Herne Bay

My last day of my extended time off so me and my brother decided to take a micro trip to Herne Bay, somewhere we haven't been for well over ten years. I'd forgotten how lovely the seafront was.
The pier itself has a very eventful history. It used to be a much longer pier and during it's history it had a tram that could take you all the way to the pier head itself. This was eventually replaced by a narrow gauge steam railway! The pier head was sufficiently far out to sea that passengers could be dropped off on day trips by the Medway Queen, which was a paddle driven steamship.
The damage to the pier started in 1953 with the severe flooding that hit the east coast of Britain and then a decade later came the bitterly cold winter of 1963. In that winter the sea ice stretched out over a mile from the shore and this caused even more structural damage to the pier. By 1968, after years of neglect, a large section of it was considered too dangerous and was closed to the public. In 1970 funds were raised to restore it but very sadly only a few short months later there was a catastrophic fire and the pavilion was completely destroyed. It didn't end there either - in late 1978 and early 1979 there were a series of huge storms that caused even more damage and by 1980 the central section of the pier  had to be dismantled. The pier head now sits rather forlornly way in the distance, an island surrounded by the waves.
Happily, the much shorter pier now looks and feels totally idyllic and on this particular early summer's day filled me and my brother with a simple joy.