adoption of screw blade added to iron piles making for a deeper and far more resilient base support. The result was a stylish and resilient Margate Pier, which survived storms and two world wars until it was destroyed by a storm in January 1978. The pier's foundations survive to this day, despite direct attempts at demolition. The Margate pier led to a series of new commissions, which eventually ran to 14 piers in total, the most famous of which is the West Pier, Brighton. On top of this he designed the piled Royal Netley Hospital pier. His effect on pier construction techniques can be measured in the fact that, from 1862 to 1872, 18 new pleasure piers were built, the majority using screw piling. His last pier was at Plymouth, opened in the year he died, 1884. In the BBC comedy radio series It Sticks Out Half a Mile (a spinoff of Dad's Army), Birch is given as the builder of "Frambourne" pier. Later life Later in his life, particularly during his travels, Birch produced numerous watercolour paintings, particularly those of Italy, Egypt and Nubia during a tour taken during the winter of 1874–75. He died on the 8th January, 1884 and is buried on the west side of Highgate Cemetery (plot no.25915). His grave, which is set back on the left of the main path up from Comfort's Corner, no longer has a headstone or identifiable memorial. List of piers References External links Bio at structurae.de People from Shoreditch Architects from London English civil engineers 1818 births 1884 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery 19th-century English architects