Queen's Pier IM

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  Oliver Mills

  :: 16 November 2017 08:20:58

  This pier is an excellent example of Victorian engineering, and also happens to be the UK's 6th longest pier, at 684 metres. It has significant presence on Ramsey Beach, managing to look both imposing and graceful. Unfortunately, it is in a semi-derelict state, having been closed since 1991. However, a trust is currently working on it, and hopes to have the first three bays (around 50 metres) completely restored for public use by the time their current lease ends in 5 years. While this may sound like slow progress, completing these first 3 bays will cause an acceleration in progress for several reasons. First, successfully restoring these first bays will convince people that the charity is competent and is able to restore the pier, allowing people to donate and volunteer with confidence. Secondly, the metalwork at the shoreward end is in the poorest condition, because of the upwards wave action caused by the stone wave breaker. This means that this section will probably take longer to restore. After being generously given a private tour of the site, I could see everything that the trust had completed so far. They first refurbished the entrance building for use as a workshop and office, installed a scaffolding platform underneath the deck of the first bay, and removed all the decking in this area for refurbishment. This is quite a lot to do in less than half a year, especially for a charity. They are next going to order the new steelwork, which will happen once they gain enough funding. In its current state, the pier has no buildings or 'pier furniture' at all. There is a good reason for this - in 2011/12, it was all carefully removed from the pier structure and placed into safe storage in preparation for restoration. At the same time, lots of the metalwork and cross-bracing was replaced. This means that despite being closed for over 25 years, the pier is not in the same position as Colwyn Victoria or Birnbeck Pier, which are both in a state of collapse. After many decades of decline and poor management, the pier is finally in good hands.