The engineer behind an ambitious bid to restore Queen’s Pier is seeking the help of an architect to draw up plans for a Winter Garden.

Tom Durrant believes 2016 will be a big year for the regeneration of Ramsey’s 2,241ft long Victorian landmark, which has been closed for almost a quarter of a century.

He hopes to have a survey completed by April and then a lease can be awarded to the Queen’s Pier Restoration Trust to begin restoration.

Work will initially focus on the first 50-metre section which Mr Durrant’s team believes needs to be widened to provide space for a Winter Garden, which will include a tea room and terminus for the pier train, together with walkways on either side.

But on the Trust’s Facebook page Mr Durrant explained: ‘There is much planning going on about how we see the pier in the future.

‘Because bay 1 has to be tackled first, we have to decide how much of bay 1 has to be built to take in our needs. We think that there has to a covered area which is a Winter Garden as well as a train station. The train (28ft long) has to be kept under cover most of its life. All this means that the width has to be expanded to allow pedestrians to walk on the outside of the Winter Garden. We are planning to have a 10ft walkway both sides.

‘We can create a foot print showing the area. But we need an architect to design it. Does anybody know one who would help us, please? The beams’ width that go across on the new lattice girders must be extended to cater for all this.’

Giving more details, Mr Durrant told the Manx Independent that the only exit from the Winter Garden would be by the pier train which is why walkways would be required on either side.

Visitors would pay to go on the pier using the left walkway and leave via the right hand walkway. Alternatively they could go into the Winter Garden for refreshments in the tea room and then take the train to the end of the pier.

Mr Durrant said the pier decking used to be a little wider to support a railway siding. The extra width would be provided by longer wooden decking, not by widening the ironwork beneath. Planning consent would be required, he accepted.

‘It’s going to be a big year for us. We hope to have the survey done by April,’ he said.

The old pier tram, now in Jurby transport museum, will not be brought back. Instead, Mr Durrant has plans to buy a flywheel train as manufactured by Parry People Movers. Such trains are currently used at Stourbridge in the West Midlands but Ramsey’s version would be narrow gauge and built to resemble an old fashioned tram. You can contact Mr Durrant on 880229.

Source: IOM Today