The state opening of parliament may be billed as one of the big political events of the year - but there are usually more laughs, surprises and revelations to be had at an end-of-the-pier magic show.

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You enter by walking into a thatched roof pavilion at the end of an otherwise innocuous but beautiful pier, and then descend a spiral staircase.

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The contest involves people running off the end of the pier in winged contraptions in an attempt to stay airborne for the longest distance.

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