Eastbourne Pier: an obsession with gold paint

One thing I noticed when I visited Eastbourne Pier earlier this month was the amount of gold paint that had been splashed about rather liberally on various surfaces. The Pier was built in the late 1860s and I sincerely doubted that the Victorian constructors had painted any part of it such a golden colour. And, as the Pier is a grade II* listed building, it seemed odd to me that Historic England would have authorised the use of gold paint in any restoration work. 

When I looked back at photos I’d taken during my first visit to Eastbourne in 2014, I could see there was no gold paint anywhere. So, I delved a little deeper and discovered, on the National Pier Society website, the origin of the gold paint. In July 2016, ‘Historic England and the local council ordered Pier owner, Sheikh Abid Gulzar, to stop all work on it after he painted its cupola gold without permission’. Gulzar’s response? ‘For me it is a project of the heart. It was the most neglected pier in Britain but there has been a lot of work carried out. I am looking for the next generation to enjoy it. I am not scared to think outside the box. I’m not charging people. They are coming onto my investment free of charge’. 

Rather surprisingly, in September 2016, following a meeting between Gulzar, Historic England and local council officials, ‘the council’s planning officers recommended that the application be allowed provided no further parts of the pier were painted gold until consent had been given.’ Perhaps the deciding factor was the fact that Gulzar was paying for the repair and restoration of the Pier, rather than Historic England and Eastbourne Council. In March 2017, even more gold paint was permitted, after Gulzar ‘applied for planning permission to paint the remaining two domes in the middle of the pier gold to match the existing 13 domes.’ 

But what is this obsession with gold paint all about? It seemed to be a personal preference of Sheikh Abid Gulzar; the Pier is owned by Golden (Lions) Eastbourne Limited (‘Golden Lions’), of which Gulzar is the sole shareholder and director. And, according to an article on the Eastbourne.info website, Gulzar has long been known as ‘Mr Goldfinger’ in the local and national press. The article, which provides a summary of Gulzar’s life, continues rather scathingly:

The “Goldfinger” persona
Gulzar’s public image is a deliberate construction: gold-liveried cars (a custom gold Mercedes AMG, gold Teslas, a gold Rolls-Royce), outsize gold-and-diamond rings, dark blazers with bright red ties, and portraits of Margaret Thatcher in his offices. After buying Eastbourne Pier he extended the aesthetic to the building itself — gold paint on the Victorian ironwork, gilded lion statues, and “Sheikh’s Pier” branding.

By this stage I could see that the ostentatious Gulzar’s love of bling was the reason for the gold-painted domes and turrets, and the golden lions on Eastbourne Pier, but what about the gold hippo I spotted on the Pier? Surely that was someone’s attempt to mock Gulzar’s obsession? But no. I then found articles about Gulzar adding gold-painted hippopotami statuettes to Hastings Pier, which he also owns. Now that truly is bizarre, and I wasn’t at all surprised to read that some unknown person or persons were being sought by Hastings Police for throwing one of the hippos off the Pier.

Eastbourne: the Pier

In the 150-plus years since it first opened in 1872, the iconic Pier in the East Sussex seaside town of Eastbourne has been subject to the whims of fate. Just five years after it opened, the Pier structure at the beach end had to be rebuilt after it was destroyed by the waves of a powerful storm, and there have been numerous other calamitous events: an exploding mine caused major damage in 1942, a fire destroyed the theatre in 1970, and the aftermath of a hurricane wrecked the landing stage in 1987. The most catastrophic event in recent years was undoubtedly the huge fire in July 2014, which reduced the arcade structure at the landward end of the Pier to a scorched and blackened metal skeleton. 

I first saw Eastbourne Pier in August 2014, not long after that fire, and, not surprisingly, the entire pier was fenced off, its future at that stage uncertain. Though the fire damage was limited to approximately one third of the structure, and the remaining two thirds appeared not to have suffered severe structural damage, the logistics and financing of any rebuild were to prove extremely challenging. 

By the time of my next visit to Eastbourne in May 2017, the Pier had been bought by Sheikh Abid Gulzar and the process of restoring the Pier to its former glory had begun. The fire damaged arcade structure had been removed, and the landward end of the Pier repaired to the extent that people could once again access the undamaged sections at the seaward end.

Though I’m not someone who would ever patronise the facilities offered by Eastbourne Pier, I definitely like to see structures like this being retained and restored for their historic value, and for the entertainment of those who do enjoy such amusements and frequent its bars and restaurants. So I was delighted to take a stroll around the Pier during a visit to Eastbourne earlier this month, though disappointed to see many of its shops closed and/or empty, and its buildings looking run down in some areas. Sheikh Abid Gulzar appears to be an entrepreneur with interests in a multitude of businesses; I hope that doesn’t mean he will neglect his responsibilities to the maintenance and continued viability of Eastbourne Pier.

Weymouth: the Pier Bandstand

The plaque at my feet reads:

The Pier Bandstand was opened in May 1939. The forest of piles supporting the pier were criticised, but the Art Deco buildings above were much admired. It included a stage, dance floor and seating, partly open to the elements. It was a popular venue for dance competitions, beauty contests, wrestling and music. Pullingers operated an elegant restaurant on the first floor until 1981. The section fronting the Esplanade was extended in the 1950s & 1960s and is the only part that remains following the demolition of the rest of the Pier in 1986. 

When I look up, I see what remains of the once grand structure that stretched out into the sea. The façade of the original building remains, its Art Deco curves and finely crafted window frames still intact, but the building has been extended on both sides. The symmetry of the building has been altered, the left side no longer mirroring the right. And though the upper storey additions mimic the original Art Deco characteristics in their flat rooves and window details, and the elegant glass balustrade on the western side, the lower storey of the building is an abomination of 1960s plate glass framing of windows and doors. 

As you can perhaps see from my photos, the first floor still houses a restaurant, currently Oliveto, while the lower floor has been converted into an amusement arcade in the central section, with a combined gift shop and café on the western side of the building, and public toilets on the eastern side. 

I took my photographs early in the morning, before any of the businesses in the building were open – during opening hours, there are tables, chairs and racks of seaside tat for sale outside the café, and assorted miniature coin-operated kiddie rides outside the open doors of the amusement arcade. 

I’ve read on Wikipedia that there were plans to restore and extend the bandstand, including the restoration of exterior Art Deco features and symmetry. It seems a great shame to me that those plans had to be abandoned when the West of England Development Agency withdrew its funding.