Ryde pier East side looking Landward

Ryde on the East side look out Landward from the pier head.There"three piers": the pedestrian and vehicle pier (other side), the remains of the old tramway (centre) and the extant railway line (this side). The pier was designed by John Kent of Southampton, and its foundation stone laid on 29 June 1813. The pier opened on 26 July 1814, with, as it still has, a timber-planked promenade. The structure was originally wholly timber, and measured 576 yards. By 1833, extensions took the overall length to 745 yards. It is this pre-Victorian structure that has, with some modifications, carried pedestrians and vehicles ever since. A second 'tramway' pier was built next to the first, opening on 29 August 1864. Horse-drawn trams took passengers from the pier head to the esplanade. Before construction of the railway pier, the tramway continued to Ryde railway station at St John's Road. From 1886 to 1927 the trams were powered by electricity from a third rail, and from then until 1969 were petrol-powered.
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