BRITAIN is unique in having so many seaside piers.

There are more thanover 50, most of them proud remnants of the Victorian age.

But at one time there were more than 100. Fires, neglect and accidents have put paid to many and there are still some in danger of demolition such as Birnbeck Pier in Weston-Super-Mare and Colwyn Bay Pier in Wales.

Sussex is no stranger to pier drama. Some have gone completely, like the Chain Pier in Brighton and the pier at St Leonards.

Fires have at times ravaged the West and Palace Piers in Brighton, Hastings, Eastbourne and Worthing Piers. Bognor Pier is not much more than a wreck and little is now left of the West Pier.

There are still some handsome piers like the one at Clevedon in Somerset which shares with the West Pier the distinction of being a Grade I-listed building.

The North Pier at Blackpool, designed like Brighton’s West Pier by Eugenius Birch, is one of the best while Cromer Pier in Norfolk still stages live entertainment.

Eastbourne Pier has recovered well from fire while the pier at Hastings is being restored by a trust, thanks also to a generous grant. Both of these were Birch creations.

I have, over the years, seen and walked on a good many of these piers from Southend to Sandown and from Blackpool to Bournemouth.

But I hadn’t realised what a parlous plight many of them are in until I saw an exhibition at Brighton Museum showing photographs of all the survivors.

Totland Pier in the Isle of Wight was closed last time I looked at it while Yarmouth’s pier is little more than a jetty. Southsea Pier is a short stub and Southend Pier is just a long dull railway track.

Piers I had considered rather dull, like the one in Worthing, seem remarkably robust and interesting compared with the national average.

They are tremendously prone to accidents. The Palace Pier was never quite the same after a barge damaged the end, including the theatre, in 1973.

Cast iron, which supports most of the survivors, has lasted remarkably well but will not go on for ever. Running piers sounds romantic but is always a risk.

There are plenty of pier preservationists including members of the National Piers Society prepared to help any structures in trouble.

But I think the time has come for a series of new piers as bold in their architecture for the 21st century as the pioneering piers were in the Victorian era.

Years ago there were plans for a futuristic pier at Bognor but I heard no more of it, though it looked far more attractive than the existing structure.

In Brighton the i360 tower nearing completion at the root end of the West Pier has been described as a vertical pier and will be an interesting attraction in its own right.

But many think a new pier could also be built there as a pleasant place to promenade. How this is supposed to pay for itself has not been addressed.

Modern materials are more robust than cast iron and could be cheaper. It should be possible to design a soaring structure of real beauty.

I would not rule out Hove MP Peter Kyle’s idea for another pier near the King Alfred leisure centre which would bring life to the seafront there.

And to those who say Brighton and Hove could not support three piers, Blackpool has managed to do it for many years.

There could even be a futuristic pier at St Leonards to help rescue the once handsome resort which is now in a sad state of decay.

Let’s keep the best of the old piers as remarkable relics which can still be attractive. But let’s also create a whole series of new ones starting in Sussex.

With a concerted national effort, 2017 could be designated the year of the pier.

The Argus:

Many counties have their traditional dishes ranging from Cornish pasties to Lancashire hot pot. Yorkshire tea thrives despite being many miles away from any plantations while Whitstable in Kent is famed for oysters.

Yet Sussex, a county full of foodies and stuffed with restaurants, has surprisingly few local dishes now that The Hungry Monk at Jevington, which invented banoffi pie, has closed.

It is ridiculous that a Cornish pasty company should be flourishing in Brighton when the city could produce pasties of its own. Our shellfish is also as good as Kent’s.

Cornish clotted cream is delicious but I have no doubt that Sussex cows could produce cream to equal it. Sussex also has more acres devoted to vineyards than anywhere else and needs to shout this from the rooftops.

We have the soil, the sun, the skill and the staff to create and market wonderful food. Let’s do it.