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Local estate agent G.B. Trent formed the Folkestone Pier & Lift Co. in the early 1880s, originally proposing an 800 foot pier. The foundation stone was laid on 7th May 1887 and the Victoria Pier (in honour of the 1887 Golden Jubilee), opened on 21st July 1888 to the design of M.N. Ridley. The finished length was 683 feet and included a 700-seat pavilion. The first floating landing stage was added in 1890 but was rarely used.

The pier was popular but not profitable until 1898. In 1903, Keith Prowse & Co. Ltd. took over the lease on the pavilion and introduced variety performers including Lily Langtry and Dan Leno. In 1907, the lease on the pier transferred to local businessmen Robert and Lloyd Forsyth who abandoned expensive entertainers in favour of more profitable attractions such as wrestling, a cinema, and beauty contests.

In 1910, the 'Olympia' roller-skating rink was added on the shore to the west of the pier. The pier was sectioned in 1940 for defence purposes. A temporary bridge was installed in 1943, but a fire on Whit Sunday wrecked the pavilion and badly damaged the seaward end of the pier. The remains were demolished in 1954.

Ref: www.piers.org.uk

Originally installed in 1885, in Folkestone, Kent, the Grade II Listed Leas Lift is a funicular railway which carries passengers between the seafront and the promenade. It is one of the oldest water lifts in the UK. The lift operates using water and gravity and is controlled from a small cabin at the top of the cliff. It has carried more than 50 million people since it opened, in a process that is especially energy efficient. The lift has a very small carbon footprint as it emits no pollution and recycles all of the water used to drive the cars.

In June 2009, Shepway District Council’s lease ran out and it was decided that the lift was too expensive to run. Campaigners subsequently protested against the closure of the lift and in April 2010, it was announced that the lift was to be restored. Crofton Design, the consulting engineers responsible for the Leas Lift restoration, was appointed as lead consultant to provide structural engineering design. Crofton won the ‘Building Structures’ award at the ACE Engineering Excellence Awards in May 2011 and won the ‘Restoration’ award at the ICE Engineering Excellence Awards in June 2011 for their work on the lift.

G A Harpers were appointed as the main contractor to carry out the necessary construction work. The renovation involved replacing the mechanical and electrical wiring and ensuring that all necessary safety standards in the two cars, the control systems and stations, were met. There was also a focus on restoring the associated power pumps that control the lift at the top and bottom stations. The wheel bearings on the lift cars were all found to be damaged by corrosion so the wheels were re-machined to provide the correct running profile. Additionally, the corroded steelwork support structures within the buried water storage tanks, which were leaking, were inspected and replaced.

125 years after it first opened, the operation of the Folkestone lift has been taken over by The Folkestone Leas Lift Community Interest Company. The company operates the lift on behalf of the community as a non-profit-making organisation and has opened the attraction as a living museum.

Ref: wikipedia.com