 During the second half of the 19th and early 20th centuries the pier was popular both with locals and tourists to the town . As a boarding point for steamers plying their trade in the Bristol Channel , it underwent various extensions and modifications over the years . During World War II the pier was commissioned as HMS Birnbeck by the Admiralty as part of the Directorate of Miscellaneous Weapons Development ( DMWD ) for research into new weapons . The pier reopened after the war , but the number of visitors and steamer passengers declined . The final excursion visited the pier in 1979 . 
