100 years of entertainment at Weston

The Grade II listed pier in 1936

This is the second time the Grand Pier in Weston-super-Mare has burnt down.

In 1930 fire ravaged the building and it did not reopen until 1933.

The idea for a pier was first mooted in the late 1800s but a number of schemes fell through.

In 1893 an Act of Parliament was passed and the scheme was approved.

Work eventually started in November 1903, with £200,000 given by local and south Wales shareholders to help build the structure.

When it opened in 1904, it measured more than 1,000ft long and boasted a 2,000-seat Theatre Pavilion, which hosted concerts, ballet performances, opera and boxing matches.

TEN LONGEST PIERS 1. Southend-on-Sea, Essex 7,080ft/2,158m 2. Southport, Lancs 3,633 ft/1,107m 3. Walton-on-the-Naze, Essex 2,600ft/792m 4. Ryde, IoW 2,305ft/703m 5. Llandudno, Gwynedd 2,295ft/700m 6. Ramsey, IoM 2,241ft/683m 7. Hythe, Hants 2,100ft/640m 8. Brighton Palace, E Sussex 1,760ft/536m 9. Bangor Garth, Gwynedd 1,550ft/472m 10. Weston-super-Mare (Birnbeck pier), N Somerset 1,350ft/412m

After the 1930 blaze, the remains were bought by Leonard Guy.

Three years later, the buildings had been replaced by a large funfair.

The pier changed hands in 1946 when it was bought by a Mr A Brenner.

Shops and amusements were added to the entrance area in 1970 and it was Grade II listed in 1974.

In 1993 a new bowling alley was built, with a two-storey fun-house and Ferris wheel added.

It underwent a massive revamp in April this year after being sold in a multi-million pound deal to brother and sister Michelle and Kerry Michael.

A new £500,000 indoor go-kart track had just opened, with the addition of a climbing wall.

The pier, which has only changed hands three times in its 104-year history, costs £500,000 a year to maintain and attracts thousands of visitors each year.

The Red Arrows had been due to fly over it in an airshow next month.

Weston-super-Mare also has the derelict Birnbeck Pier, which a Manchester-based company had promised to restore.