Another big lift operation has been successfully carried out on Queen’s Pier, Ramsey.

Some 30 new larch beams were craned into their approximate position onto the pier’s first bay, and a similar number of rotten old timbers from the second bay have been removed.

Project manager Stuart McKenzie said the Restoration Trust volunteers would now be able to fix the new beams in place ahead of the wooden stringers going down and then the decking being laid.

This will complete the restoration of the pier’s first bay - a landmark which Mr McKenzie expects will be reached some time before the end of this year.

Another important milestone took place last week when the newly-installed steel passed its formal inspection.

Meanwhile fundraising continues apace with the Trust not far short of the £50,000-60,000 needed to order replacement steelwork for bays two and three.

Saturday’s big lift operation was carried out once again with the help of Isle of Man Heavy Crane Services Ltd.

Corroded iron girders in bay 1 were replaced with new steel over the first bank holiday weekend in May.

All the materials required to complete the first bay have been purchased but the volunteers are still waiting for all of the 36 cast iron grids to be returned from being refurbished.

The Queen’s Pier Restoration Trust signed a five-year lease with the government in July 2017 to begin work on bringing the long-closed Victoria landmark back to life.

This lease, and the subsequent granting of planning consent, covers the restoration of the first three bays which forms phase one of the project.

Eventually, steelwork on each of the pier’s 55 bays will have to be replaced.

Fundraising for this community project has involved some innovative ideas including schemes to sponsor a plank and sponsor a stanchion.

All the planks and all 38 stanchions for the first three bays have now been sold out. Sponsors receive a certificate and an inscribed plaque.

The last two stanchions were sponsored by the Clague family from Belgium whose great, great grandfather owned the foundry in Ramsey which cast much of the pier deck’s iron furniture.

A major fundraiser took place at the Harbour Bistro on Friday night which raised a very significant sum - in excess of £6,000 - towards the pier’s restoration.