Hi marc,
Well spotted, it was two of our rides that have been sold on , the Crazy Clown and Canoe River. The Crazy Clown never really attracted many riders and was in need of to much TLC on the painting and finishes for the new owners to warrant keeping it on, it is possibly being exported to India. The Canoe River had to go to make way for the Lighthouse slip.
I can only apologize on behalf of the new owners for the non opening of the toilets. Vandalism has played a part in their closure but it was pumping problems that caused the toilets to remain closed.
Rest assured the toilets will reopen soon , unfortunately the parts required for the pumps appear to be a discontinued item so a new pair of pumps are going to need to be installed.
To enable the toilets to brought up to a nice standard and keep the vandals at bay, the Pier is having to follow in the foot steps of Ryan Air and thinking of charging for spending a penny, inflation will probably mean it will cost a little more when they do reopen but certainly not the £1 Ryan Air are suggesting and sorry buying a wristband wont count .
I found a nice old picture of the Piers old slip, I have been informed by the Bishton family, owners of the present slip installed on the Pier that the Pier’s original slip is still around, possibly just finishing restoration and built originally by the ‘Supercar’ firm.
CE