Hastings Pier Engineer team have been up at the crack of dawn over the summer, doing work that can only be done at times the pier is not in public use.

I joined them, after watching the sun rise over Hastings Castle, and a sky ribbed in pink and blue.

Hastings Pier has won several major awards this year, including Pier of the Year, and a RIBA Award too.

This is the newly cleaned deck building. The sides are clad from deck wood that made up the original pier before the fire. Scorch marks can clearly be seen.

The original deck was made up off exotic hard woods. None of which require chemical treatment to preserve them, and so not polluting the sea.

Here are a few more images from the morning.

Autumn 2017 Engineering and Environment update