A part of the capital’s history has been restored and will be displayed permanently as a reminder of the past.

As we have reported previously, Douglas Council has saved the sole surviving piece of machinery from the Douglas Cable Tramway, a cable tram flywheel dating from 1894.

Now it has been restored and is to be installed in the Bottleneck car park on Loch Promenade.

The mechanism was used for manoeuvring tram cars around Douglas on the tramway which operated from 1895 until its closure in 1929 and ran from Loch Promenade, through to Victoria Street, then Buck’s Road, Woodbourne Road, York Road and Ballaquayle Road before returning via Broadway.

The wheel was uncovered during excavation works carried out by the former Water Authority in 2000 for the IRIS sewer scheme when a long-buried cable tram chamber was unearthed.

After early restoration work by volunteers from Jurby Transport Museum, a team from the council carried out the wheel’s full restoration with engineering and fabrication support from BB Consulting Engineers and Gallas Foundry.

Environmental services committee chairman Councillor Ritchie McNicholl said: ’The council is as committed to celebrating Douglas’s past as it is to advancing schemes to create a brighter future for the town.

’The Isle of Man is internationally renowned for its vintage transport systems and the council is proud to be contributing to the island’s heritage by preserving this unique example of Victorian engineering for future generations.

’It is all the more appropriate that the council should be delivering this attraction in 2018, the Year of Our Island, which provides an opportunity to shine a light on all the features that combine to make the Isle of Man the very special place that it is.’

Once the project is completed, in collaboration with the Department of Infrastructure, Douglas Council will arrange an official unveiling.