Personal

Never-ending heartache

It's hard to convey, in one photograph, how much a mass of twisted, rusting metal can mean to some people.

For almost thirty years, Brighton's beautiful West Pier ("the most important pleasure pier ever built") has stood unused, pointing out towards the French coast. When I first saw it, it had an unmistakable poignancy, as if to say it could wait as long as it would take to secure the funding for its renovation.

In the past five years, it's survived two collapses and two fires. But news is that today's storms on the south coast have finally claimed the major part of the structure.

Time to let go, I think.