Gala opening of the Clevedon Pier 29th March, 1869.
The official opening of Clevedon pier was held on Easter
Monday, 29th March 1869. Throughout the morning, large numbers had congregated
at Clevedon railway station. The 10.15 train from Bristol alone had brought five
hundred passengers!!
Lady Margaret Ann Elton recalls: [wife of Sir Arthur Elton of
Clevedon Court]
"There was a general holiday and floral arches had sprouted up all over the town. Altogether, two thousand people came by the Bristol and Exeter line, along with hundred of carts poured in from the country.
Finally assembled, a great procession left the terminus, consisting of twelve policemen, fifty-four members of the Clevedon Artillery and Band, ninety-four Nailsea Engineers and their Band, the directors of the Clevedon and Weston Pier Companies, twenty-eight members of the Committee of Demonstration, inhabitants and visitors, the Bristol Artillery Band, ninety Odd Fellows, the Axbridge Drum and Fife Boys, and five hundred school children."
Echoing the profound wishes of this great concourse, a huge triumphal arch astride the Marine Parade, carried the inscription, 'SUCCESS TO THE PIER'.
At 1.30pm the five hundred children burst into the singing of Psalm 148, and there was a short service of dedication, in which the local clergy also hinted that the opening of the pier should not be allowed to interfere with the observance of the Sabbath. There was then a cannon volley fired by the First Somerset Artillery, the massed bands played the National Anthem, and Clevedon pier was open for the good of the townspeople and the benefits which commerce