Having gone to bed at 2am on this very special day, 4am seemed to come around very quickly.

My first panic was to realise that the costumes we were wearing for the opening ceremony of the finally restored pier were out on the line because when we picked them up from the dress hire people at around 10pm the previous evening they had smelled strongly of cats.

I thought a few of hours in the garden would blow some fresh air in and the cat smell out. Thank heavens it did not rain so our first hurdle was overcome and indeed we did smell a little sweeter.
                                                              
It was difficult to know quite where to start but out of force of habit we had a cup of coffee and a piece of toast. Ivor had his first cigar, the cat had some breakfast and went back to bed and we both had a quick shower and put on old clothes to start the day's events. We had members of our family from America staying with us but decided not to rouse them.
                                                                 
We left the house at 5 am and headed for the sea front just as we had done daily for 9 years knowing that there was a great deal to be done before the ceremony opened at 10am.

The weather was good, a little overcast but it was still early and as long as it did not rain we would be alright As we approached the sea front we were confronted by several police cars.

The one by the peace memorial waved us down to ask who we were and why were we out so early. They were not our regular policemen so we had to explain that we belonged to the pier and we had several duties to perform.

The reason for their questions did not surprise us as we were under military control because the Royal Marines were arriving at 9 am to launch the whole of the proceedings.

The safety procedures were very exacting concerning their attendance and quite rightly so. All the rubbish bins had been removed, the drain covers sealed and the sea front completely cordoned off.

We had several stallholders who had booked a pitch to sell their wares, and most importantly we awaited the arrival of Shirley Burger with her mobile food unit, which turned out to be a main attraction and certainly would be our only food of the day.

When we explained this to the Coppers they agreed to let them in provided they had their booking forms and trading licence to display so all worked out ok. All that remained for me to do at this point was to take my plan of the seafront and several pieces of  chalk to mark out  the agreed plots.
                                                                     
There were a lot of people doing things with what seemed miles of wiring, swinging from lamp to lamp and hanging loudspeakers to relay the various speeches to be made later on.

The ladies started decorating the entrance gate with ivy and flowers to replicate the original opening back in 1869 and Ray Buck, our boatman, arrived and gave help where it was needed. Meanwhile the paddle steamer Waverley waited out in the bay for people to board her for the first cruise of the day after the official opening was completed.

Suddenly the whole picture took shape and what we had only seen on paper became a reality. The only problem now was how to fit four ladies in crinolines behind the counter in the Toll House.                            
                                        
Fire magic arrived to set up what was to be the biggest firework display, Clevedon had ever witnessed which would necessitate the closing of the pier later in the afternoon to prepare for the event.

By this time hundreds of people had begun gathering to await the arrival of the Royal Marines. Trevor Tomasson kept all the background musical entertainment in perfect order. There were no less than seven bands taking part all of whom provided an array of music for every one. 
                                    
Adam Hart Davis arrived most suitably attired and started to test the sound system before going on to give a magnificent commentary all day.                              

At 10 am the proceedings started in Hill road with music provided by Clevedon Light Opera Club. I would have loved to have been able to be in two places at once because I missed so much of all that was going on. People, who came down to the sea front later, told me how charming the event had been.                               

Just before 10 30 am the buzz began getting louder because The Royal Marines had arrived at the Salthouse Fields and were preparing for our most exciting parade.

Suddenly all the music was cut and a pregnant hush fell along the sea front as a few minutes later we could hear the band as it proceeded along Elton Road towards us.

Ivor locked the Toll House door so that we could both go and watch the magnificent approach up to the gates of the pier. It was just so lovely to watch and we both felt very proud to be British. I don't think there was a dry eye to be seen.

The band, surrounded by local dignitaries and children in Victorian costume, played for sometime before closing with Happy Birthday to Sir Charles Elton who was waiting to do the official opening.

We have so much to thank the Elton Family for because without them we would not have had a pier to reopen. He was presented with a magnificent birthday cake and duly unlocked the gates with the original key from 1869 assisted by former world bowls singles champion David Bryant.

There were cheers and speeches before the Marines disbanded to return later in the day to beat The Retreat.

Among the crowds and hardly able to believe what they were seeing was former long serving Pier Master Bernard Faraway, his wife Joan and their son Geoff, whose childhood story about growing up in the Toll House appears in the Life Stories section of this site. Bernard and Joan were in post when two of the pier’s slender spans collapsed during safety weight tests in October in 1970.
                                                             
The part of the day that I had been looking forward to most of all had now come with the first sailing of the paddle steamer Waverley.  Ivor and I were lucky enough to be onboard for the trip but it was very funny because all we wanted to do was to sit down.

We were suddenly confronted by no less than twelve members of our family from America, Majorca and various parts of this country who had come as a surprise.

It was the icing on the cake but I suddenly began thinking about what I was going to feed them all on and where they were all going to stay. That, of course, had already been sorted out so I did not have to worry.

It was a short trip but very exciting for us although all I wanted to do afterwards was get back to the Toll House, take my crinoline off and put on something more comfortable!                                                         

While the Waverley set sail for her second cruise in the early afternoon, there were more functions taking place in Hill Road and some daring feats going on at the seafront where The Crunchie Flying Circus performed some hair-raising feats with their team of wing walkers.

The crowning glory came when it was announced that one of our pier patrons and local MP Liam Fox had been one of the performers. What a bonus that was.  
                  
The Clevedon Pier Supporters had a wonderful balloon launch with hundreds of colours filling the sky and at 7.30 pm The Royal Marines beat The Retreat before disbanding from their temporary base at the sea front bowling club and going off back to Plymouth.

What a day it had been, but we still had the fireworks to enjoy and that was a magnificent display the like of which most people had never seen before.

There were dozens of buckets of money to be counted but that was a task with which I did not get involved as I had plenty of other clearing up jobs to do.

We had a last bacon buttie from Shirley at midnight but I hardly remembered it. All I wanted to do was to get home to bed because we had to be back at the Toll House at 6.30am the following morning for a Waverley trip to Minehead which had been heavily booked.

It came all too soon but when we returned to the sea front we were both surprised and pleased to see that everything was in perfect order. The dustbins had been returned, all the litter had been cleared away and it was a lovely morning to boot.

The previous day had been the busiest of our lives and the joy of it all was that not only had we covered our £30,000 cost but had made a profit as well!
    
For more information on Maggie’s book visit  Silverwood Books

The pictures are published courtesy of North Somerset photographer Bob Bowen.

To place orders email bobbowen@btconnect.com or visit BobBowenPhotography

Visit www.clevedonpier.com for information about the pier.

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