Review of popular Clacton Pier on a wintry Monday morning

On a cold and foggy afternoon, I decided to try and brighten up the day by going down to Clacton Pier's arcade.

Unsurprisingly, with all the children at school and plenty of adults at work, it was nice and quiet.

Foggy - Clacton Pier in the mist (Image: Newsquest)

Due to both the rides and Jurassic Pier being closed for the winter, I and my companion spent our time in the arcade playing the hundreds of machines on offer.

I started with the claw machines but sadly I was unsuccessful in winning a small plush toy before moving on to the arcade machines.

After that we played plenty of the games on offer, such as Basketball Connect 4, Bowling Champ and Monster Drop Xtreme, all of which had no wait time. 

We racked up tickets the fastest on Monster Drop Xtreme, a game in which you try and drop a ball in a hole which gives you the numbered amount of tickets.

Plushies - The claw machines at the pier (Image: Newsquest)

We won a total of 462 tickets and decided to spend them on some sweets for my brother as it was his birthday. 

The ticket eating machines were easy to use and the prize shop had a good selection of items for a whole range of ticket prices.

There were small sweets for 25 tickets, small toys for 1000 tickets and even huge electric gadgets for 10,000 tickets. 

Games - One of the pier's pool tables and more of its arcade machines (Image: Newsquest)

Once we had our hands full with prizes we played a couple of games of pool and spent some time in the 18+ gambling area. 

Overall, I had a really lovely experience at the pier arcade, despite the wintry weather, and had just as much fun as I would have done in the summer.

Other things to do on the pier during the colder months, which I did not get to try out, include adventure golf, the boardwalk and the soft play area. 

For more information about Clacton Pier go to clactonpier.co.uk.