You are about to read our first "Newsletter-Only" article, available to newsletter subscribers last Friday.

Subscribe in the sign-up box more like this. Expect historical features, quizzes, blog posts, photo galleries and more! For our first installment, the story of the Penarth Pier Fire of 1931...

No one knows how it started, but here is how it ended:

A 27-year-old Pier charred and in tatters; a pavilion destroyed; 800 miraculous survivors.

On 3 August 1931, a fire broke out on Penarth Pier. It was a blissful summer's evening of dancing and frivolity, until it very suddenly wasn't.

The sound emanating from the Pier that night must have been received as a confusing juxtaposition to passersby on the Esplanade.

In the newly built, art deco Pier Pavilion, a band played show tunes and music hall numbers. This clashing with the sound of a foxtrot from the old 'Bijou Pavilion' at the end of the Pier was a sign of the changing times.

Eight hundred people laughing and enjoying the sea breeze in a perfect setting.

The Bijou Pavilion was built just over a decade after the Pier first opened in 1894. Between then and that August night, it sheltered countless pre-War Penarthians as they attended and participated in regular concerts and dances.

They say 200 foxtrotted in the Bijou that night when the fire began. Some think a discarded cigarette ignited a heap of rubbish; others speculate foul play. All we know for certain is that it started at the far end of the Pier, placing the 200 in immediate danger.

"Fire! Fire," shouted two youngsters who had spotted the blaze.

Piermaster Leonard and his assistant sprang into action, grabbing their fire extinguishers and dashing towards the licking flames.

Almost immediately upon their arrival at the scene, licking became roaring and a large part of the deck was engulfed in an inferno.

The dancing 200 were alerted and proceeded to hurry towards the safety of the Esplanade. Policemen present linked arms with some of the more composed citizens and helped ferry the crowd shoreward.

But the panic must have been immense. According to legend, revellers in the new Pier Pavilion were saved by the initiative of Mr Leonard Zanoni.

Musical director of the Moonbeams Company then playing in the new Pavilion, Mr Zanoni spotted the fire, ran back into the Pavilion and told the orchestra to play I'm Happy When I'm Hiking.

Everyone marched calmly away from danger to the tune - stampede averted.

Firefighters launched a heroic but ultimately futile attempt to save the Bijou Pavilion end of the iconic Pier.

At just after 10pm, the Bijou Pavilion succumbed, crumbling in a sad hot heap onto the deck.

An hour later, the entire central portion of the pier collapsed into the sea.

Thankfully, all that was lost was heritage and public money. But the financial hit was far from negligible.

The rebuild cost £3,157 (a then-monumental expense) and took several years, but the Pier was eventually restored to its former glory.

Well, not quite. Whether for financial or design reasons, the Bijou Pavilion was never resurrected. Now, in its place, stands a small hut - home to the Penarth Sea Angling Club.

When you next walk down there, cast your mind back to this sad but ultimately fortunate night in 1931.