It’s been a frustrating time for volunteers working on the restoration of Queen’s Pier, Ramsey.

But after months of unavoidable delays, work is due to begin again in earnest next month, when the next batch of replacement steelwork is scheduled to be delivered.

Progress on the restoration of the Queen's Pier had been going well up to autumn last year.

Volunteers had just completed what could be done on bay 8 and were preparing to strip the old wood off bays 9 and 10.

Bay 9 is the first of five of the wider, or stabilisation, bays along the pier. These stabilisation bays have a different design which include permanent seating around the outer edges of the decking platform.

Before the team can strip the old wood off the bays, they must have a working platform. This is provided by scaffolding, and its fitting is determined by the tides and weather conditions.

As the weather was not good throughout the winter this delayed the scaffolding, and the timetable for this work was also put back as a result.

Once the scaffolding was in place and volunteers stripped the old wood on bay 9 and 10 they were able to call in the surveyor from the fabricators who does a full survey of the bays in question.

Added to this is the problem of lifting a fully fabricated one piece steel girder into place from the beach, explained trustee Graham Curphey.

The volunteers having been using a 17-metre telehandler for this but due to the additional width of bay 9 they are unable to reach the middle girder.

Graham said: ‘Together with our fabricator we have come up with a design that we can lift a centre girder into place in smaller pieces and construct it in place. This has taken time to design and have it cleared through structural engineers.

‘The good news is that this has been completed and we are expecting the steel for bays 9 and 10 in mid-September 2025 and if we are blessed with a mild and calm autumn and early winter, we hope to get the steel fitted quickly.

‘Once the steel is fitted and levelled the wood does not take that long to fit so we hope everyone will see another piece of the restoration with the pier getting longer, by next spring’.

He added: ‘Fortunately, a number of bays following on from bay 10 are the standard bays and will be easier to complete. As always the tide and weather are our main enemies.

‘We are eternally grateful to our fabricator, James Cowie and Co from Hamilton in Scotland who designed the centre bays in smaller parts for us to construct on the pier. A flat pack by any other name. ‘

He thanked BB Consulting for its sign-off of the new design and to the volunteers who have all contributed to the ‘vast amount of additional work’ this has entailed. ‘Finally, we thank all of our supporters for the patience and encouragement during our restoration efforts,’ he said.