President: Professor Christopher Stephens MBA MAEd FRCGP
A meeting of the Southampton Medical Society was held on the 6th November 2024 at the Ampfield Golf Club. The President was in the chair. The minutes of the last meeting were approved. This was a lunchtime meeting.
The President introduced the speaker Mr Anthony Smith, Chairman of the Hythe Pier Heritage Association, who told the story of the Hythe Pier.
Mr Smith said there had been a ferry service between Hythe and Southampton since at least the year 1575.
As the population increased there was a greater need for a regular ferry service. The beach in Hythe is very wide and muddy which, even with a primitive stone jetty, made accessing the ferry boats difficult. The need for a pier was raised in Parliament in 1864. An Act of Parliament was passed in 1867 and work started in 1880. The pier was opened in 1881. It is 640 metres long. The pier was used for carrying anything from farm animals and goods to people out to the ferry. Due to the length of the pier a hand luggage truck was introduced which is still in use today. After the First World War the pier was so popular and busy that in 1922 a narrow gauge railway system was built. The three locomotives were from a First WW mustard gas factory and the four carriages were specially designed and built for the railway. Mr Smith showed pictures from the 1920s of the large crowds of people on their way to work in Southampton. After the 2nd WW the number of passengers gradually declined as firms moved away from the Southampton area, or closed down, and the arrival of alternative means of transport competed for customers. The main group of visitors is now tourists who of course come in the summer months.
Mr Smith then described the two groups involved with running the pier. The Hythe Pier Heritage Association looks after managing the pier and project developments for its upkeep whilst Hythe Mens Shed At The Pier and its volunteers do any practical maintenance work needed. They have been fortunate in attracting volunteers of high calibre with practical and financial expertise.
In 2016 the then owners of the pier announced that it was not a viable business and was likely to be demolished. A petition to save the pier attracted thousands of signatures and resulted in the formation of the HPHA.
Since the HPHA was founded there have been major surveys of the buildings and the structure of the pier resulting in large engineering projects above and below the waterline and the refurbishment of the tractors and carriages and railway track. Removal of asbestos was an early project. It is now a listed building grade 2.
Repairing and maintaining a Victorian pier costs a lot of money. Fundraising was essential and involves the community, heritage days, rock-the-pier concerts and a shop. Hampshire CC the National Park Authority and private donors have provided money to help with large engineering projects, whilst other funding has been the basis of smaller sums. HPHA is in the process of applying for National Lottery funding for the major project of restoring the Victorian ironwork and the foundations of the pier above and below the waterline. General maintenance is ongoing with the restoration of the last carriage and the historic waiting rooms.
Over the centuries there have been 24 different ferry boats. The ferry itself is presently owned by a national company though it is not in operation at the moment as the ferryboat is being refurbished.
The President thanked Mr Smith for his most interesting talk.
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