Southsea South Parade Pier was opened in 1879, shortly after the original Clarence Pier was opened. She was designed to meet the needs of passengers who were travelling from or to the Isle of Wight and was a perfect complement to the grand Clarence.
However, her splendour was to be short lived, because she was destroyed by fire in 1904. She was re-built and extended to 183 metres (approx 600 feet) and this time she was designed to be more of a pleasure palace than a jetty, she had quite a range of facilities such as a pavilion, 2 halls, windscreens all the way around and a bar and lounge incorporated in the small pavilion at the end of the pier.
So in her day, the South Parade Pier was to be the theme park and she was soon to become a real favourite with families, who enjoyed the fact that there were some excellent shows in the concert halls as well as all year round facilities. Life trundled on for the pier for over the next sixty or so years.
Then she was to experience the problem faced by so many piers, namely fires. In 1967 the first fire struck, then in 1974, the second, more extensive fire was to wreak quite a lot of damage, with only the valiant efforts of over 100 fire-fighters averting disaster. So, the South Sea Parade had to be re-built once more.
He re-building was a less dramatic design than the Clarence, but she has a number of amusement games and things to do, with various function rooms, bars and concert venues, there are regular shows to take in. The theatre is quite well renowned and there is all the facilities that you would expect to find on a pier, along with a wide different things going on in the function room, from dancing to people getting married!
Still a busy venue the South Parade is less noisy than the Clarence and does offer some fantastic views out to the Solent over to the Isle of Wight, on a clear day.
Although there are lots of cafes, games and kiosks, you can still find a little bit of peace and quiet on the South Parade Pier and just rest and relax a while, soaking up the atmosphere and building up an appetite, so that you can have some good old fish and chips!