Hythe Pier, Hampshire

As with many, Hythe Pier was originally built as a place for steamships to land their passengers.  Most of the others later evolved into pleasure piers for promenading, but this was ever an option for Hythe Pier as it’s far too narrow.

It was opened on New Year’s Day in 1881 to take passengers across the Solent to the Royal Pier at Southampton, which is no longer there, although passengers can take the ferry over to the Town Quay, Southampton.  Ferries run all day and well into the evening.

The pier’s main point of interest are its trains, which were installed in 1922. They were originally built and used for a factory that made mustard gas in Avonmouth during the First World War. At the end of the war they were converted from battery power to electric and brought to Hythe where they have been running ever since.