Island Life Magazine Ltd December 2012/January 2013 | Page 41

INTERVIEW

Remembering
the great

storm

It remains a vivid memory for many
Islanders even though it is 25 years
since what became known as the Great
Storm ripped through the Isle of
Wight causing chaos and devastation.
Trees were uprooted, buildings were
extensively damaged and roads were
blocked. But undoubtedly the biggest
victim was Shanklin Pier that had
stood proudly in the bay since 1890.
As the hurricane reached its peak, the
1,200ft pier was decimated, and parts
of it have never been found.
Neil Cole, a part-time fireman and
longshoreman, who started working on
Shanklin Beach as an eight-year-old,
recalls the night Shanklin Pier was
ripped to shreds, never to be re-built.
Neil, 59, said: “I was in the watch
room at the fire station that night, and
there were so many calls I stayed on to
help out with the paperwork.
“Then we received a message from
the police saying the arcade on the pier
had been blown into the sea. But the
next message revealed it was not just
the arcade, but the whole pier that had
collapsed.
“I went down to investigate, but
when I reached Hope Road on the way
to the Esplanade I saw pieces of 8ftx4ft
plywood flying through the air as high
as the top of lamp posts. I turned my
van around and reversed all the way
down because I was worried a piece of
wood might come straight through the
windscreen.
“When I got to where the pier used
to be sure enough it had gone, totally
smashed to pieces by the storm. The
wind was still so strong the waves were
not running up the beach, but were
going across the sea, being blown from

Luccombe towards Sandown. I had
never seen anything like it before, and
have never seen anything like it since.”
Neil returned the following morning
to a scene of total devastation. He
added: “People were taking wood off
the beach because all the pier decking
was teak. In the end the police closed
the Esplanade. There were also fruit
machines scattered on the sand, but
there was very little looting because
they had all been emptied a couple of
days before the storm.

Credit: wightfishing.co.uk

'People were taking wood off the
beach because all the pier
decking was teak.'

The destruction of Shanklin pier after the storm
Credit: wightfishing.co.uk

“In the end much of the wood was
burned on a big bonfire on the beach.
But up to three years later there were
still bits of the pier being found –
nuts, bolts and bits of wood.”
He added: “There was a big slide on

People on the beach with the wood and debris
Credit: wightfishing.co.uk

the pier, and the only piece of that
ever found was part of the steps to
climb up it. The slide itself totally
disappeared and has never been found
to this day.”

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