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Pier Review : A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside Hardcover
I have always found the idea of the ‘English Riviera’ comical, the sort of gentle self-mocking humour that we British would pride ourselves on if we weren’t so gently self-mocking. But looking out at the white buildings in the distance, sprinkled on the cliffs and framed by a sailor-blue sky, I can see it. Just.
Fifty-five piers. Two weeks. One eccentric road trip.
Before the seaside of their youth disappears forever, two friends from the landlocked Midlands embark on a hare-brained journey to see all the surviving pleasure piers in England and Wales. With a clapped-out car, and not enough cash, Jon and Danny recruit Midge, a man they barely know, to be their driver, even though he has to be back in two weeks to sign on... Taking turns to tell their madcap story, Jon and Danny invite us to join them as they take a funny and nostalgic look at Britishness at the beach, amusement in the arcades and friendship on the road.
Fifty-five piers. Two weeks. One eccentric road trip.
Before the seaside of their youth disappears forever, two friends from the landlocked Midlands embark on a hare-brained journey to see all the surviving pleasure piers in England and Wales. With a clapped-out car, and not enough cash, Jon and Danny recruit Midge, a man they barely know, to be their driver, even though he has to be back in two weeks to sign on... Taking turns to tell their madcap story, Jon and Danny invite us to join them as they take a funny and nostalgic look at Britishness at the beach, amusement in the arcades and friendship on the road.
- GenresNonfictionTravel
Hardcover
First published February 11, 2016
About the author
Jon Bounds
10 books11 followersJon was voted the ‘14th Most Influential Person in the West Midlands’ in 2008. Subsequently he has not been placed. He's been a football referee, venetian blind maker, cellar man, and a losing Labour council candidate: “No, no chance.
A complete no-hoper” said a spoilt ballot. Jon wrote and directed the first ever piece of drama performed on Twitter when he persuaded a cast including MPs and journalists to give over their timelines to perform Twitpanto. But all that is behind him.
As well as founding the famous blog Birmingham: It's Not Shit, he's also organised psychogeographic trips around Birmingham's Outer Circle, measured the emotional wellbeing of the city and started Talk Like a Brummie Day. He currently edits Paradise Circus: A Birmingham Miscellany.
In 2014 he published 101 Things Birmingham Gave the World, with a foreword written by Stewart Lee. Pier Review, is about visiting every seaside pier in England and Wales and has been described as "On the Road meets On the Buses".
A complete no-hoper” said a spoilt ballot. Jon wrote and directed the first ever piece of drama performed on Twitter when he persuaded a cast including MPs and journalists to give over their timelines to perform Twitpanto. But all that is behind him.
As well as founding the famous blog Birmingham: It's Not Shit, he's also organised psychogeographic trips around Birmingham's Outer Circle, measured the emotional wellbeing of the city and started Talk Like a Brummie Day. He currently edits Paradise Circus: A Birmingham Miscellany.
In 2014 he published 101 Things Birmingham Gave the World, with a foreword written by Stewart Lee. Pier Review, is about visiting every seaside pier in England and Wales and has been described as "On the Road meets On the Buses".
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
April 2, 2018
Who doesn't love a pier? Who wouldn't want an excuse to visit every pier in England and Wales?
Actually, it's quite painful to read of the torture that is spending hours in a small car whilst trying to get round every pier in England and Wales, in just two weeks. Many of the piers turn out to be a bit underwhelming.
Whilst visiting the 55 piers and recording their reactions, the two authors also grapple with their pasts, and their feelings about their country.
Jon Bounds and Danny Smith draw out some interesting points about how the various communities view their piers, and themselves. I have been to many of the piers they visit and broadly agree with their assessments.
However 'Pier Review: A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside' is ultimately less about the piers and more about the dynamic between the three participants. The narrative voice switches between the two authors, who are close friends, and so we read about the same situation from two different perspectives and temperaments. This technique is a great way of recording their quest, and often very amusing.
The third participant is the driver Mitch who has to get back to sign on and so retain his unemployment benefits. He is an opaque figure, endlessly stoical and abstemious, but his presence, and occasional acerbic asides, adds to the comedy and the richness of the narrative.
The most enchanting aspect of 'Pier Review: A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside' is the self-deprecating humour. Danny and Jon readily concede that their journey is ludicrous. And celebrate it. Britain's seaside towns are frequently dispiriting places, a microcosm of the country as a whole, and that's probably why they, and we, love them. Warts and all.
Pier Review: A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside
Actually, it's quite painful to read of the torture that is spending hours in a small car whilst trying to get round every pier in England and Wales, in just two weeks. Many of the piers turn out to be a bit underwhelming.
Whilst visiting the 55 piers and recording their reactions, the two authors also grapple with their pasts, and their feelings about their country.
Jon Bounds and Danny Smith draw out some interesting points about how the various communities view their piers, and themselves. I have been to many of the piers they visit and broadly agree with their assessments.
However 'Pier Review: A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside' is ultimately less about the piers and more about the dynamic between the three participants. The narrative voice switches between the two authors, who are close friends, and so we read about the same situation from two different perspectives and temperaments. This technique is a great way of recording their quest, and often very amusing.
The third participant is the driver Mitch who has to get back to sign on and so retain his unemployment benefits. He is an opaque figure, endlessly stoical and abstemious, but his presence, and occasional acerbic asides, adds to the comedy and the richness of the narrative.
The most enchanting aspect of 'Pier Review: A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside' is the self-deprecating humour. Danny and Jon readily concede that their journey is ludicrous. And celebrate it. Britain's seaside towns are frequently dispiriting places, a microcosm of the country as a whole, and that's probably why they, and we, love them. Warts and all.
Pier Review: A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside
March 13, 2016
This book began as a drunken plan to visit every pier in Wales and England and led to authors Jon Bounds and Danny Smith embarking on the trip, aided by a driver called Midge, who needed to return to Birmingham within two weeks in order to sign on. Holidays to the British Seaside are part of many our childhoods and so it was, perhaps, ironic that this trip began in September – just as the weather got more unpleasant and the summer was over.
Although I appreciate that many British seaside towns can be dismal affairs, even in the heady sunshine, they are not improved by autumnal drizzle and especially difficult to be upbeat about if they are closed. It is fair to say that many of the piers visited by the trio were, in fact, closed…
This is very much a guy’s book – there is a lot of drinking and humour which veers towards the childish. I do not mean this in a negative way, as it has a feel of many such books written by men that I have enjoyed – such as Danny Baker or Stuart Maconie – but it is simply a fact that this book would be different if written by women. The whole trip would probably have been better organised for one thing, but perhaps then the book would have lost some of its charm.
I did enjoy reading this; although they were somewhat harsh about some piers I recalled fondly from childhood holidays. Perhaps that is one of the problems with this book. I have taken my own children to piers which, although from my point of view look dingy and dispiriting, are viewed with delight by young children and so – although I enjoyed the trip round the coast – I think that the British seaside still does have a lot to offer. This is a homage in a way, despite the ironic tone, and is good fun, which will resonate with lots of readers.
Although I appreciate that many British seaside towns can be dismal affairs, even in the heady sunshine, they are not improved by autumnal drizzle and especially difficult to be upbeat about if they are closed. It is fair to say that many of the piers visited by the trio were, in fact, closed…
This is very much a guy’s book – there is a lot of drinking and humour which veers towards the childish. I do not mean this in a negative way, as it has a feel of many such books written by men that I have enjoyed – such as Danny Baker or Stuart Maconie – but it is simply a fact that this book would be different if written by women. The whole trip would probably have been better organised for one thing, but perhaps then the book would have lost some of its charm.
I did enjoy reading this; although they were somewhat harsh about some piers I recalled fondly from childhood holidays. Perhaps that is one of the problems with this book. I have taken my own children to piers which, although from my point of view look dingy and dispiriting, are viewed with delight by young children and so – although I enjoyed the trip round the coast – I think that the British seaside still does have a lot to offer. This is a homage in a way, despite the ironic tone, and is good fun, which will resonate with lots of readers.
May 27, 2016
Several things come to mind when you think of the classic British seaside holiday; sand, soft ice-cream, seagulls, fish and chips, driving rain, occasional glimpses of the sun and that Victorian bastion of the coast, the pier. Jon and Danny conceived and idea late one night in the pub, the place where all good ideas are formed, of visiting every pier still standing in England and Wales.
All fifty-five piers. In two weeks. In a car that they are not convinced will make it…
Fully enthused, they approach friends to fund their project, with the promise to send postcards regularly. With not quite enough cash secured, they need a driver. They choose Midge, an unemployed man they vaguely know, who only has two weeks spare before he needs to get back to Birmingham to sign on again. Planning consists of a spreadsheet with a list of the piers, a tent that they have never put up and a card with Linda Lusardi on for writing notes. They are ready, they think; so what could possibly go wrong…
This type of travel book is something that the British do best; a mad idea, planned whilst under the influence of alcohol and carried out in a slightly disorganised way. Both authors write from their perspective on their trip, nicely done in the book with different fonts rather than being a homogenised text. The book is full of humorous moments as they metaphorically stumble from place to place. Each pier they visit has a little box with facts and anecdotes including length, when built and most amusingly ‘Burn Baby Burn’ for all those piers that have had fires. It is an enjoyable book, full of wistful memories of the heyday of summer holidays brought right up to date through slightly hungover eyes, told with self- deprecating wit and the odd one or two scrapes. Good stuff.
All fifty-five piers. In two weeks. In a car that they are not convinced will make it…
Fully enthused, they approach friends to fund their project, with the promise to send postcards regularly. With not quite enough cash secured, they need a driver. They choose Midge, an unemployed man they vaguely know, who only has two weeks spare before he needs to get back to Birmingham to sign on again. Planning consists of a spreadsheet with a list of the piers, a tent that they have never put up and a card with Linda Lusardi on for writing notes. They are ready, they think; so what could possibly go wrong…
This type of travel book is something that the British do best; a mad idea, planned whilst under the influence of alcohol and carried out in a slightly disorganised way. Both authors write from their perspective on their trip, nicely done in the book with different fonts rather than being a homogenised text. The book is full of humorous moments as they metaphorically stumble from place to place. Each pier they visit has a little box with facts and anecdotes including length, when built and most amusingly ‘Burn Baby Burn’ for all those piers that have had fires. It is an enjoyable book, full of wistful memories of the heyday of summer holidays brought right up to date through slightly hungover eyes, told with self- deprecating wit and the odd one or two scrapes. Good stuff.
March 9, 2016
This wonderful slab of narrative non-fiction charts the journey of two authors who travel around Great Britain's seaside piers. They are driven by their passing acquaintance, Midge (surely the greatest name in all of literature?) and are on a strict budget which leads to offbeat and unexpected turns to their expedition. Their quest may seem odd to some, but that's part of the book's charm and as a woman who's already obsessed with bridges, and their history, this book was right up my street.
Although enlightening and undoubtedly educational, this book is also extremely well-written. The quality of the prose is exceptional and it is rare for me to say that about a book. For me, the most enchanting aspect of this volume however is the self-depreciating humour coursing through it. The guys involved understand how ludicrous their mission must seem to the outside observer and that their methods are, shall we say, less-than-logical, at times. But this adds an honesty to the text rarely seen in travel writing. Often writers paper over those less-than-successful cracks. Jon Bounds and Danny Smith are more interested in conveying the reality of coastal Britain which isn't always pretty, but it's ours.
As a proud northerner, I'm gutted the Cliff Lift was closed during the Saltburn portion of the boys' adventure but perhaps that underscores why a book like this is so important. Seaside towns are part of our cultural heritage, and have been largely forgotten about. Books like these remind us that there are merits to keeping our heritage alive... and offer laugh out loud moments aplenty. 5 Stars for this one. A book that won't disappoint.
Although enlightening and undoubtedly educational, this book is also extremely well-written. The quality of the prose is exceptional and it is rare for me to say that about a book. For me, the most enchanting aspect of this volume however is the self-depreciating humour coursing through it. The guys involved understand how ludicrous their mission must seem to the outside observer and that their methods are, shall we say, less-than-logical, at times. But this adds an honesty to the text rarely seen in travel writing. Often writers paper over those less-than-successful cracks. Jon Bounds and Danny Smith are more interested in conveying the reality of coastal Britain which isn't always pretty, but it's ours.
As a proud northerner, I'm gutted the Cliff Lift was closed during the Saltburn portion of the boys' adventure but perhaps that underscores why a book like this is so important. Seaside towns are part of our cultural heritage, and have been largely forgotten about. Books like these remind us that there are merits to keeping our heritage alive... and offer laugh out loud moments aplenty. 5 Stars for this one. A book that won't disappoint.
March 29, 2016
I lived in Lowestoft as a child and always liked visiting the piers there. There is something different about piers even if they have no amusement arcades. I think it's the fact that at the seaward end you can almost pretend as though you are standing in the sea - you feel cut off from the land. So for me there was more than a hint of nostalgia in reading this book.
Fifty five piers in less than a fortnight represent a mammoth pilgrimage but the three young men managed to accomplish it. The authors not only describe their experiences during their trip but also give brief histories of the piers they visit - many of which have had a somewhat chequered past. Some suffered from enemy action during World War II and many others at some time have had fires on them and have been shortened in length because of those disasters.
There is something nostalgic and romantic about even the most dilapidated piers and I think this book conveys that feeling very well. I can always imagine people in Victorian or Edwardian dress strolling on the piers because these structures are quintessentially of those eras. But I can also remember eating hot and sugary doughnuts or fish and chips on them and being dive bombed by hungry seagulls!
This is an entertaining book for anyone who likes piers. I would have liked to see some photographs included and I could have done without some of the juvenile humour but overall I found the book worth reading and it could inspire me to revisit some of the piers I know as well as some of the less familiar ones.
Fifty five piers in less than a fortnight represent a mammoth pilgrimage but the three young men managed to accomplish it. The authors not only describe their experiences during their trip but also give brief histories of the piers they visit - many of which have had a somewhat chequered past. Some suffered from enemy action during World War II and many others at some time have had fires on them and have been shortened in length because of those disasters.
There is something nostalgic and romantic about even the most dilapidated piers and I think this book conveys that feeling very well. I can always imagine people in Victorian or Edwardian dress strolling on the piers because these structures are quintessentially of those eras. But I can also remember eating hot and sugary doughnuts or fish and chips on them and being dive bombed by hungry seagulls!
This is an entertaining book for anyone who likes piers. I would have liked to see some photographs included and I could have done without some of the juvenile humour but overall I found the book worth reading and it could inspire me to revisit some of the piers I know as well as some of the less familiar ones.
August 22, 2017
This was recommend by a pier obsessed friend and is something I never would have thought to read otherwise. It's the true story of 3 guys visiting every pier in England and Wales (55 of them) in less than a fortnight. The piers are a huge MacGuffin, and while there is a little detail on each of them, the book is really about the journey, interspersed with related thoughts about what it's like to be a 40 something year old man in the UK right now. It's a really entertaining read, and manages to include some interesting observations without being pompous.
July 30, 2019
Great read, preferred it as it got more hateful towards the end
February 22, 2017
DNF, too bored
This is such a good idea, but alas, it is not enough for a book. A magazine article, yes.
Gallingly, despite the length, the actual review of seaside towns is neglected in favour of boorish, boring anecdotes.
I don't want to be harsh about this book, but I can't help it. It's poorly-written and needs a massive edit, and as such, it's a book that wasted my time, and that makes me mark harshly. Maybe 2 out of 5. But really 1, because it's not funny and not interesting.
Sorry, please forgive me, authors.
But you needed to work a lot harder on this.
This is such a good idea, but alas, it is not enough for a book. A magazine article, yes.
Gallingly, despite the length, the actual review of seaside towns is neglected in favour of boorish, boring anecdotes.
I don't want to be harsh about this book, but I can't help it. It's poorly-written and needs a massive edit, and as such, it's a book that wasted my time, and that makes me mark harshly. Maybe 2 out of 5. But really 1, because it's not funny and not interesting.
Sorry, please forgive me, authors.
But you needed to work a lot harder on this.
July 29, 2016
Not my sort of humour really so much of this didn't appeal to me.
March 22, 2021
To be clear, I only read part of the opening chapter and have scanned sections of the rest. I wasn't impressed, went back and looked at other views here and on Amazon, concurred with the critical ones and was very sceptical of the positive.
A fellow reviewer writes: "Although enlightening and undoubtedly educational, this book is also extremely well-written. The quality of the prose is exceptional…". I assure you it isn't. Exceptional?! If that's written with sincerity, it only saddens me how far our standards have slipped.
Somebody else said it reminded them of the style of Stuart Maconie. Sorry, but this book has done nothing, nothing to earn that comparison.
I'm normally very reluctant to be mean about other people's work, but it's been some while since a book has made me quite this angry. I'm angry that others might waste hours of their time reading something that frankly shouldn't have been published. The title is a superb pun, but without a book to back it up. The authors joke, repeatedly, and with apparent pride, about how little research they've done and the "road trip" element adds nothing - as we have nothing invested in the three of them.
The acknowledgements section suggests to me there's been a very cursory level of editing.
This was a story best shared privately with the author's friends, or at most, published as a series of blog posts, not printed and bound and destined to waste the time of some poor researcher in the British Library in years to come trying to find out what all the piers were like before they were washed away due to climate change.
It's published by Summersdale - my first impression of them: pleasant cover designs but inexperienced authors and plenty of critical reviews implying books light on substance. I'd steer clear of the whole imprint, to be honest.
Alternative recommendations:
Assuming you do actually want to learn a few things about piers, may I instead suggest Walking Over the Waves: Quintessential British Seaside Piers (2008); purely a series of self-contained chapters on individual piers - dip in and out as you wish in any order, don't expect a wider narrative - but densely researched (interesting facts) with a nice selection of photos.
British Seaside Piers is more recent (2014) - I don't have a copy (and it's not available as an ebook), but I've seen reviews suggesting it is also thorough. Includes some general history chapters as well as a gazetteer.
And for entertainment value and a fascinating diversion into a commentary on failures in British town planning, Tim Moore's: You are Awful (But I Like You): Travels Around Unloved Britain.
A fellow reviewer writes: "Although enlightening and undoubtedly educational, this book is also extremely well-written. The quality of the prose is exceptional…". I assure you it isn't. Exceptional?! If that's written with sincerity, it only saddens me how far our standards have slipped.
Somebody else said it reminded them of the style of Stuart Maconie. Sorry, but this book has done nothing, nothing to earn that comparison.
I'm normally very reluctant to be mean about other people's work, but it's been some while since a book has made me quite this angry. I'm angry that others might waste hours of their time reading something that frankly shouldn't have been published. The title is a superb pun, but without a book to back it up. The authors joke, repeatedly, and with apparent pride, about how little research they've done and the "road trip" element adds nothing - as we have nothing invested in the three of them.
The acknowledgements section suggests to me there's been a very cursory level of editing.
This was a story best shared privately with the author's friends, or at most, published as a series of blog posts, not printed and bound and destined to waste the time of some poor researcher in the British Library in years to come trying to find out what all the piers were like before they were washed away due to climate change.
It's published by Summersdale - my first impression of them: pleasant cover designs but inexperienced authors and plenty of critical reviews implying books light on substance. I'd steer clear of the whole imprint, to be honest.
Alternative recommendations:
Assuming you do actually want to learn a few things about piers, may I instead suggest Walking Over the Waves: Quintessential British Seaside Piers (2008); purely a series of self-contained chapters on individual piers - dip in and out as you wish in any order, don't expect a wider narrative - but densely researched (interesting facts) with a nice selection of photos.
British Seaside Piers is more recent (2014) - I don't have a copy (and it's not available as an ebook), but I've seen reviews suggesting it is also thorough. Includes some general history chapters as well as a gazetteer.
And for entertainment value and a fascinating diversion into a commentary on failures in British town planning, Tim Moore's: You are Awful (But I Like You): Travels Around Unloved Britain.
January 13, 2019
I love a pier and have been on more than a few. I don't know why, there is just something to being able to walk on water, isn't there?
The whole concept of this popular Victorian folly is absurd when you think about it. I mean, did they all want to be Jesus back then or is it simply the fascination we all have about what is out there. Most of which we will never completely know about in our lifetimes. I grew up by the sea and by a pier (Saltburn), took my first adult job at the other end of the country by another pier (Bognor) and later in life have come to call another seaside town my home. Which has two piers. That being Brighton. Well, we have one and a half.
This book embarks on a drunken whim to see all of them in one coast-hugging trip that ultimately celebrates and champions our fair isle with wit, candour and humour. Friendships are formed and matured along the way, a search of discovery behind one's very sense of down time and pleasure and tripping over fascinating stories throughout history. A trip that ultimately reminds us that we really know how to take the piss out of ourselves, us Brits.
I mean, how else would you explain sea walkways that go absolutely nowhere?
The whole concept of this popular Victorian folly is absurd when you think about it. I mean, did they all want to be Jesus back then or is it simply the fascination we all have about what is out there. Most of which we will never completely know about in our lifetimes. I grew up by the sea and by a pier (Saltburn), took my first adult job at the other end of the country by another pier (Bognor) and later in life have come to call another seaside town my home. Which has two piers. That being Brighton. Well, we have one and a half.
This book embarks on a drunken whim to see all of them in one coast-hugging trip that ultimately celebrates and champions our fair isle with wit, candour and humour. Friendships are formed and matured along the way, a search of discovery behind one's very sense of down time and pleasure and tripping over fascinating stories throughout history. A trip that ultimately reminds us that we really know how to take the piss out of ourselves, us Brits.
I mean, how else would you explain sea walkways that go absolutely nowhere?
July 20, 2017
Pier Review is the story of three men, a car and a road trip through England and Wales which sees the three visit every pier. Jon and Danny came up with the idea on a drunken night out and once they had recruited Midge to be their driver there was no stopping them.
The book is interesting, there is nostalgia by the bucket load and a sense of adventure to the story, however some of the humor and the constant need for one of them to find a pub gets a little annoying in the end. The ending also felt a little rushed, there was little reflection on the trip once they had completed the 55 piers.
However for anyone who holidayed every year in the UK I think this is a must read. A very entertaining account of an adventure.
The book is interesting, there is nostalgia by the bucket load and a sense of adventure to the story, however some of the humor and the constant need for one of them to find a pub gets a little annoying in the end. The ending also felt a little rushed, there was little reflection on the trip once they had completed the 55 piers.
However for anyone who holidayed every year in the UK I think this is a must read. A very entertaining account of an adventure.
September 23, 2021
A Road Trip to cover all fifty five piers in England and Wales- starting at Weston-Super-Mare in the Midlands and finishing at Penarth in Wales. Writers Danny and Jon, with Midge the driver.
I love a road trip, but this ended up feeling a bit downbeat, enforcing all the reasons why I prefer to go overseas and seek sun and adventures, rather than holidaying in the UK- even if it is seaside England.
Their journey started off up-beat, but somewhere in the middle the tone changed to a darker, bleaker trip. It reminded me why I have resented every moment of having to holiday in the UK over 2020/ 2021.
I love a road trip, but this ended up feeling a bit downbeat, enforcing all the reasons why I prefer to go overseas and seek sun and adventures, rather than holidaying in the UK- even if it is seaside England.
Their journey started off up-beat, but somewhere in the middle the tone changed to a darker, bleaker trip. It reminded me why I have resented every moment of having to holiday in the UK over 2020/ 2021.
July 27, 2017
An interesting idea, two friends from landlocked Birmingham plan to visit most of the piers in England and Wales (Scotland was left as too far to drive in the fortnight they allowed themselves to complete their journey). They enlisted a man called Midge as their driver - he doesn't say much in the book but is key as without him they'd be stuck!
The book gives a potted history of each pier they visit, although those after an in depth social history of piers and the seaside would best look elsewhere. Instead it is an amusing, drink fuelled journey around the seaside and they certainly didn't like Blackpool much! It's another 3 1/2 rated book for me. You will enjoy reading it once but doubt I'd read it again.
The book gives a potted history of each pier they visit, although those after an in depth social history of piers and the seaside would best look elsewhere. Instead it is an amusing, drink fuelled journey around the seaside and they certainly didn't like Blackpool much! It's another 3 1/2 rated book for me. You will enjoy reading it once but doubt I'd read it again.
December 26, 2022
This sounded great on paper but, just like most pier entertainment flyers, it just didn't live up to the billing. It was nostalgic in places but just not enough to grab me for the rest of the book. There was more about the practicalities of sharing a road trip than about the actual piers that they were visiting. The only real information was just kept for sparse boxed info panels for each pier. Nice idea but not very rewarding as a read.
July 19, 2023
Great non-fiction read, made me want to do this journey maybe without the camping and the back ache...
February 26, 2024
I quite liked this being a geek myself. The self imposed achievement of visiting every pier in England and Wales. Weird definitely weird
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 16, 2016
This book wasn't exactly what I was expecting, there's much less about piers in it than I thought there would be and none of the information given about piers in the book was new to me (but that's to be expected, I have read quite a lot about piers)!
I did still enjoy the book. It was interesting to get a different perspective on piers and the seaside and I liked the way that the narrative switched between the two authors. The book was generally lighthearted, entertaining and fun to read.
I did still enjoy the book. It was interesting to get a different perspective on piers and the seaside and I liked the way that the narrative switched between the two authors. The book was generally lighthearted, entertaining and fun to read.
January 7, 2017
A very British road trip, encompassing fading Victorian splendour, tatty seaside towns, beer, rain, car breakdowns, the state of the nation, Pontins, edgy pullovers, tent failures, things being closed when you visit, and a vague but pervading sense of disappointment.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews