Clarence Pier is an amusement pier in Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

, Hampshire

Hampshire

Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...

. It is located by the Portsmouth Hovercraft terminal. Unlike most seaside piers in the UK, the pier does not extend very far out to sea, instead goes along the coast.

The pier was originally constructed in 1861 and boasted a regular ferry service to the Isle Of Wight

Isle of Wight

The Isle of Wight is a county and the largest island of England, located in the English Channel, on average about 2–4 miles off the south coast of the county of Hampshire, separated from the mainland by a strait called the Solent...

. It was damaged by air raids during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 and opened in its current form in 1961.

The main entrance to the pier from the road is via a striking pavilion building with distinctive yellow and blue cladding and a small tower. This originally housed an amusement arcade and cafe although in more recent years, the upper floor has variously been used for "Pirate Pete's" indoor children's playground, a Wimpy

Wimpy (brand)

Wimpy is the brand name of a chain of fast-food hamburger restaurants based in the United Kingdom.-History:The Wimpy brand was created in the 1930s. The name was inspired by the character of J. Wellington Wimpy from the Popeye cartoons created by E. C. Segar...

 bar and a Prize Bingo

Prize Bingo

Prize Bingo is a game derived from standard Bingo games which is particularly popular in UK seaside resorts. Rather than winning cash prizes as per normal bingo, Prize Bingo instead offers points to the winner of each game which can be redeemed in a dedicated shop near to or within the Prize Bingo...

 hall while the 'Golden Horseshoe' amusement arcade remains on the ground floor.

A smaller building, perpendicular but not physically joined to the main pavilion houses another amusement arcade, the "Wheel Of Fortune" and some small gift shops. The upper floor was originally used as a public house but in 1994 it was converted into 'Jurassic 3001', a futuristic dinosaur themed dark ride. It closed in 2004, yet all ride signage and theming on the building still remains. The ride was well-known for its animatronic triceratops, whose head protruded from the side of the building and roared occasionally at passers-by, however this has since been removed.

The main funfair operates on a free admission, pay-per-ride token-based system. In the early 1980s, the amusement park was named "Fun Acres" and as well as the whole pier itself, it also took up 3500 sq metres of land or so to the North West of the Northern part of the pier. This part of the park was cleared and redeveloped as a restaurant, crazy golf course and hotel during the 1990s, therefore the park itself is significantly smaller than it used to be. The old part of the park contained the 56-seat Corbiere Spherical Ferris Wheel and a ghost train

Dark ride

A dark ride or ghost train is an indoor amusement ride where riders in guided vehicles travel through specially lit scenes that typically contain animation, sound, music, and special effects....

 among other attractions. The token booths were shaped as mushrooms.

One of the main landmarks of Clarence Pier until the mid 1990s was the Super Loop ride, since removed. The Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel

A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...

 was sold and relocated to Pleasureland Southport

Pleasureland Southport

New Pleasureland, previously named Pleasureland, is an amusement park located in Southport, Merseyside, England. The original park operated from 1912 to 2006 and was closed by the parent Blackpool Pleasure Beach company due to what they stated was a lack of returns after investment...

. One ride which lasted the duration and remains to this day is the Skyways roller coaster

Roller coaster

The roller coaster is a popular amusement ride developed for amusement parks and modern theme parks. LaMarcus Adna Thompson patented the first coasters on January 20, 1885...

. A new addition to the pier is a pirate-themed crazy golf course situated behind the Wheel of Fortune arcade.

"Mind The Baby, Mr Bean", an episode of British TV comedy series "Mr Bean" was filmed on location at Clarence Pier (as well as other locations in Southsea). This was prior to the closure of the North Western part of the park and the closure of the Wheel Of Fortune public house. The episode shows the Super Loop, Skyways roller coaster, and many of the park's other attractions from that time. Clarence Pier was also the filming location to the teen pop band, "S Club Juniors" song, "Fool No More" filmed mainly on the dodgems but the rollercoaster, 'Skyways' can also be seen in the video.

2007 Ferris wheel proposal

The Solent Eye Ferris wheel

Ferris wheel

A Ferris wheel is a nonbuilding structure consisting of a rotating upright wheel with passenger cars attached to the rim in such a way that as the wheel turns, the cars are kept upright, usually by gravity.Some of the largest and most modern Ferris wheels have cars mounted on...

was proposed by Billy Manning Ltd for Clarence Pier in 2007. On 17 October, permission for a 130 feet (39.6 m) wheel was granted, but two days later it was revealed that Portsmouth City Councillors wished the wheel was bigger. As a result, the original plans, which were for a 180 feet (54.9 m) wheel, were revived and conditional planning permission subsequently granted on 19 December 2007. It was expected to cost £2 million.