Did you know The history of Banjo Pier


Looe’s Banjo Pier was the first of its type, and therefore the prototype of ‘banjo piers’ around the world.


Did you know:


It was created by Joseph Thomas (1838-1901), a Cornish architect, civil engineer and entrepreneur who lived the majority of his life in Looe.


Thomas was born in Roche, near St Austell, on March 10 1838.


As a boy, he helped his


father work on the construction of the bridge over the Looe River and the new roads to Polperro and St Martins.


In 1893, Thomas bought land at Hannafore for development. The scheme included widening of West Looe quay, building a ramp up to the West Looe side of the bridge, and construction of the present-day high-level access road to Hannafore.


In 1896, Thomas looked at the


problem of silting up of the entrance to the harbour at Looe.


His pier started life with a slight curve, orientated northwest to southeast. This configuration did not prevent silt from blocking the river, causing problems for vessels trying to get to the harbour and quays from the open sea.


So Thomas decided that the solution would be to shorten the length of the wall and add a circular hub at its seaward


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end, thus giving it its distinctive “banjo” shape.


Thomas was so confident of the outcome he offered to bear the expense of the works if it didn’t solve the problem but if it did, the Harbour Board would pay the costs.


It was a success and the Board paid up!


Thomas also engineered the railway link between Coombe Junction and Liskeard station, linking the Looe Valley line to the main line at Liskeard.


LOOE NEWS JANUARY FEBRUARY 2018 21


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