The weathervane in the drawing is just to inspire you,  we have yet to choose what the image should be. We want to get inspiration from the public, so anyone can enter. Don’t worry if your artistic skills need help, the winning idea will be turned into weathervane reality with support from our artists and metalworkers. Closing date is 30th December 2019, send your design by email to shotleypier@gmail.com or on paper to our registered address at Redlands, Main Road, Chelmondiston, IP9 1DX.  You can send a simple drawing or a more complex design, whatever conveys your idea to us.  Anyone can enter. In January 2020, the judging panel will create a shortlist, ensuring that the designs would be technically possible. Weathervanes have to be able to balance and turn in the wind, so technical support from a weathervane metal worker will be called upon. Once the shortlist has been chosen and checked for practicality, our members will be asked to vote and the winning entry will be made for the turret.  The date for this vote has not yet been set but is likely to be in 2020

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Take a photo of yourself wearing a Shotley Pier T Shirt this summer, and you could win a boat trip for a group of up to 6 people from Shotley Marina to the pier and beyond, taking in either a nature trip up the Stour, or a guided tour of the bay, taking in close up route of Harwich and Felixstowe docks. The Judges will be looking for well composed photos with the logo in clear view. You may like to take a photo with humour, or  interesting locations, or interesting activities, or any other factor you think is a winning picture.   The Closing Date is 30th September 2019 There are 3 categories: –Local to Suffolk –UK –International T shirts are £15 each, buy one in time for the holiday snapshot season. On sale at the pier on Sunday 19th May or at any Red Lion Coffee morning, or call to ask for mail order 01473 780052 Email your entry photo to shotleypier@gmail.com

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We had an interesting question from Brian: “Hi – please advise if the original pier had buildings, such as proposed, on it. Thanks and regards.” We are not sure if many people remember the old fish stall that used to be at the  land end of the pier, so here is the information. The pier was owned by the Polden family, Pat Polden being well remembered in the area as a commercial fisherman. His widow and daughter are active supporters of our plans, and have shared their family photos with us to show you. Pat used to land his catch at the hammerhead, and his wife and daughter sold the fish at the stall at the pavement end, some 650 feet away. Amazingly low food miles from catch to sale ! Their fish stall was partly on the pavement, partly on the pier as there were no platforms to the side. This wouldn’t be appropriate for our proposed buildings, partly because the pavement is now adopted by Highways Authority. But the main reason is that we want to keep the pier clear for walking on. The lapsed planning permission for platforms either side was a key part of how we develop community access at the same time as providing facilities at the pier.

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We had the fantastic news that the Coastal Revival Fund has granted the pier £50,000 which can be used very quickly to commence work on restoring and developing the pier. This fund is provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government as part of its national initiative to provide economic development to coastal areas for “The Great British Coast.” The publicity for awarding millions of pounds in grant aid all around the British Coastline  says ” The fund will support projects to help revive heritage assets that are important to local communities but have not yet reached their full potential or are facing neglect.” That is a very accurate description of 1235 year old Shotley Pier, and fits very well with the Babergh District Council  giving priority to encouraging tourism and leisure on the Shotley peninsula. Another funder immediately let us know they could consider “matching”  the grant raised, so we have now applied to them for more money !

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Many people have asked us about the new housing development happening on the beach next to the pier. Planning permission was gained some years ago for this beach development, but only started in  2018. This photo, taken from the pier itself, shows the first three houses being built. The developer recently completed flats on King Edward Drive facing the harbour (on the left of the photo), and their next stage is to build houses on the beach area. The photo shows the roofline taking shape for the first three homes which are designated to have workshop space on the ground floor with two-storey homes above the workshops.  The overall height of this block of three houses will be 10m (33 feet) tall. Their original plan had a curved roof but there was a minor amendment last year to have a pitched roof.  These three houses face Shotley Pier. Their next stage will be to build more houses further out on reclaimed land, these will be facing Harwich. This section of houses goes further out than the proposed pier visitor centre, so anyone sitting in the proposed visitor centre looking to the seaward side would get a view of the beach housing estate rather than the original distant sight of Felixstowe docks. Visitors will need to walk further out along the pier promenade to get a view of the sea-ward side of the harbour or Felixstowe docks.  The pier promenade section does extend further into the river than the housing estate.  The up-river views will not be affected. The final section of beach housing to be built will face Felixstowe docks. The developer also has existing planning permission to build more flats around the corner at the Marina.

https://www.shotleypier.co.uk/2660-2/

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Each year, we hold an art exhibition and art sale, which is popular with the general public who come along to enjoy the art and the refreshments from 10am – 4.30pm The event will be held in St Mary’s Church, Shotley, IP9 1ES in this stunningly beautiful location overlooking the River Orwell, with walks and views. Although it is tucked away, it is well signposted from the main road, and has a very large car park The Church itself is on a walkers route, so that many passers by pop in to see events. As the church is next door to Shotley Vineyard, we hope to arrange for a drop in there too – watch this space ! Volunteers make  teas and coffees and cakes which make it a very pleasant social occasion, and the team chat to visitors who like to hear about the latest pier news. The Pier Group receive a commission of 20% on all sales, and the artist is welcome to bring art and cards/notelets to sell.  We want to do fund raising that benefits our partners as well as the pier fund, so the proceeds will be shared between the pier fund and the Shotley Church repair fund

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The Pier group has completed some urgent works on the pier, with the removal of two asbestos concrete roof panels on the fishing sheds, and unstable railings which were about to fall into the river. The East of England Co-op was very helpful in  viewing the site, discussing options, and helping  pier volunteers get quotes from asbestos disposal companies, not an easy task for this challenging site . Several companies declined to give a quote – with holes in the decking and windy conditions, it was never going to be easy to carry the asbestos off the pier.  Safe disposal in accordance with asbestos regulations was the easy part once it was all on land. Strong winds were the main concern for the people involved, and there had to be a risk assessment on the day regarding wind  gustiness and direction, as well as whipping up the water to make the workers wet and cold. Steve from SKL said:  “This has to be one of the most unusual jobs I’ve ever done.” SKL put temporary decking in several areas where it was too dangerous to walk with heavy panels, and this remains in place for other works Chairman John Davitt said: “We needed to urgently remove the asbestos concrete panels as the stormy weather last spring made the sheds vulnerable, one shed was leaning alarmingly by this month.  We had hoped to include the asbestos removal in our preliminary works, but the delay to planning permission meant we needed to get the repairs done now.”  The pier now looks slightly different, with regular walkers noticing the changes first. ( Photo by Tony Lawford-Randall )

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We are very sad to report that one of the artists closely associated with the pier project has passed away suddenly. Art has been very important to the project, as the pier position makes it easy to appreciate the sunsets and the river environment. Christine Hillier had been involved in the art of the pier from the earliest stage, her wonderful moody blue piece  and other items being sold at our first fund raiser event, our Art Auction in 2017.  She went on to provide art for our first coffee morning at the Red Lion in December 2017, which proved so successful that the owners offered to host a monthly “artist of the month” event at the Red Lion. Christine’s art was chosen to launch this event due to the popularity of her work at the previous events. Her next piece “Love Me” will eventually hang in our visitor centre. Our sympathies to Christine’s family.

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Michelin listed Red Lion, Main Road, Chelmondiston IP9 1DX hosts a monthly coffee morning to raise funds for Shotley Pier. 10.30 am to 12 once per month Tickets are £5 per person, which includes tea or coffee plus a delicious slice of home made cake, donated by our talented volunteers. The artist of the month speaks for a few minutes, and you can chat to the artist about their work if you wish. Art  will be on display on the Art Wall at the Red Lion for the rest of the month, and is available to buy. No need to book, just come along and enjoy the friendly atmosphere and comfort of the Red Lion.

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