Heart of the pier will never change, say owners

Amy and Charles Barwick have run Southwold Pier for the last 12 months

The owners of a seaside pier say the heart of the attraction remains the same as they reflect on their efforts one year on.

Amy Barwick and her husband Charles bought Southwold Pier, in Suffolk, last March.

The 810ft-long (247m) pier was built in 1900 as a landing stage for steamships that travelled from London Bridge.

Mrs Barwick said she could not believe how fast the past year had gone, and she praised the pier's team for helping keeping its essence the same.

Gough Hotels, a Suffolk owned family business, took over the pier in 2013 before Mr and Mrs Barwick took over

"The team are always there to greet [people]," Mrs Barwick said.

"We've got a really happy team who are really friendly and the heart of the pier has not changed at all.

"People love coming here on a daily basis and sometimes it is a stop for them... they come down for a coffee and it's there means of getting out and chatting to people.

"We've got all our regulars who we love seeing every day, so it is a very special place and that's what we've got to look after for the customers and our returning trade."

After moving to Southwold several years ago, the couple saw the pier was available to buy after it previous owners, Gough Hotels, put it up for sale after 10 years.

"We're not shy of hard work and our background is in amusements and food operation, so we knew what we were up against with that sort of operation," Mrs Barwick continued.

"We put in an offer and we got accepted... and the rest is history."

Southwold Pier was built in 1900 as a landing stage for steamships coming from London Bridge

The couple have carried out some improvements "behind the scenes", but also recently fully refurbished the Clockhouse coffee shop.

"It's been challenging, it's been fantastic as well," Mrs Barwick added.

"We've got our feet under the table now so we know what we're up against.

"We've learnt a lot in the last year, but we feel like we've got a positive year ahead."