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| The Friends of Queen's Pier, Ramsey |
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The Queen's Pier Story....
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In January 1994, due to the uncertainties surrounding the future of
the Queen’s Pier, a public meeting was called by local residents
Mr and Mrs John May, which was attended by approximately two hundred
people. It was agreed that a supportive group be formed, the Friends
of Queen’s Pier Ramsey, with officers and committee members being
chosen.
Shortly after this meeting, and following an application made by the
Friends, charitable status was granted by the Isle of Man Government.
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| The Friends agreed upon its role, with three specific
objectives: to persuade Government to agree not to demolish the Pier, or
let it fall into ruin;to persuade Government that the Pier should be
protected from further decay and to assist Government in achieving this
aim; to work with the chosen area of Government, preferably the Manx
Museum and Manx National Heritage, to place and begin to process the
restoration of the Pier within a practical time frame. The Friends
decided that the best way of achieving these objectives would be by
encouraging membership of the Charity and by keeping the subject in the
public eye.
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| Present membership is
approaching eight hundred and fifty, and although these are
predominantly local, we do have members as far afield as Australia,
South Africa, USA and Sweden. In acknowledgement of the unique
contribution which the Queen’s Pier makes to the built heritage of
the Isle of Man, the Pier was entered into the Protected Buildings
Register in February 1995. With tens of millions of pounds being spent
on piers in England, it is hoped that the authorities will see the merit
in spending money on the Queen’s Pier, such that it will form part
of the Island’s unique appeal to visitors, maintaining a landmark
in the north of the Isle of Man.
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| In the early 1880’s, consideration was given to
constructing a pier at Ramsey to provide service to steamers, and also
to enable berthing to take place at low water. Previously only smaller
steamers had been able to off load in Ramsey Harbour, and because of the
tidal restrictions these services had been somewhat haphazard. The
Harbour Commissioners commissioned the construction of the Pier, with
Ramsey Town Commissioners, despite certain misgivings, providing a
contribution of £6,000 towards the cost of the Pier’s
construction. Head Wrightson & Co of Stockton-on-Tees tendered for
the construction of the Pier at a cost of £36,710, which was
accepted, with John Goode appointed as designer and acting as engineer
during the construction. The construction of the long awaited Pier was
started in June 1882 and consisted of a timber deck carried on wrought
iron lattice girders supported by wrought iron piles. In the original
works a timber berth, south berth, was provided at the end of the Pier
on the south side of the head only. On 22 July 1886 the Pier in its
original form was opened by the then Lord Bishop of Sodor and Man,
Bishop Rowley Hill, who was acting Lieutenant Governor. At this time,
the Pier included tramlines and tram but excluded the east berth, the
final cost of the Pier was £40,752 which also funded additional
work including fendering work.
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| During the first year of its operation, it became clear
that a berth across the end of the Pier was required, and construction
of the East Berth was approved in 1893, but was not completed until
1901. The Pier, unlike most other piers in the United Kingdom, was built
as a landing berth and, therefore, did not benefit from having the
income from theatres, amusement arcades and other attractions, although
it was originally intended that attractions would be presented on the
Pier and there were a number of these before 1914. These were notably
swimming demonstrations and band performances on the roof of the
refreshment room. There was also a small income from the tram and café
although in later years the costs outweighed any income benefits. The
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company used Ramsey as a summer port of call
from Belfast and Ardrossan and this continued until 1970, when the
deterioration in the condition of the berthing heads and dwindling
traffic led to the closure of the berths after the 1970 season. The
maintenance of the Queen’s Pier became much reduced after its
discontinuation of use for berthing of passengers. Its condition has
continued to deteriorate with it being maintained to a basic standard to
allow for the continued use of the trams until 1981, and by pedestrians
and anglers until 1991. The Pier was eventually closed to the public due
to its continuing deterioration and damage by vandals, which included
fire damage to the pavilion and waiting room. The official closure
notice was issued on 4 June 1991. |
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