 The pier's primary purpose was to be a promenade as opposed to a ship docking pier, and thus is considered to be the country's first pleasure pier.A year later, on 2 August 1860, the pier was officially opened with a grand procession; at a length of it was the second-longest and first iron-constructed pleasure pier in the country.Waiting rooms for boat passengers were added during the pier's first few years of operation, and a cable-operated tramway had been installed by 1865.