Deal has a long association with the Royal Marines. Because of
its proximity to the continent and its strategic naval dockyard,
Marines from Chatham and Woolwich were initially quartered in the
town and, in 1861, the soldiers moved into permanent local barracks.
A brief history of the Marines in Deal, creation of the Royal Marines
School of Music and private redevelopment of the barracks can be
seen on the WalmerWeb
website. Early on 22 September 1989, the Royal Marines School
of Music was bombed by the IRA, resulting in the death of 11 bandsmen
and the injury of 22 others. On 26 March 1996, the Marines were
relocated to Portsmouth but they return every year to provide a
concert on Walmer's seafront memorial bandstand.
Deal has the only remaining complete leisure pier
in Kent. The third to be built on the site, it was opened in 1957
and is a concrete-clad steel structure with fishing decks and a
new cafe at its head. The latter was built in 2008 and has received
plaudits for its innovative design. Although the pier is often said
to be the same length as The Titanic, that ship was 882ft in length
and the pier is 1,026ft. The first pier was designed and built by
Sir John Rennie in 1838. A wooden structure, it was destroyed by
a gale in 1857 and replaced by an iron pier in 1864. This survived
until it was severely damaged by a torpedoed Dutch ship, The Nora,
in January 1940.
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