Queen's Pier,
Ramsey
Ramsey may refer to:
Geography British Isles
* Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, a small market town in England
* Ramsey, Essex, a village near Harwich, England
** Ramsey and Parkeston, a civil parish formerly called just "Ramsey"
* Ramsey, Isle of Man, t ...
is long
and was built for the
Isle of Man
)
, anthem = "O Land of Our Birth"
, image = Isle of Man by Sentinel-2.jpg
, image_map = Europe-Isle_of_Man.svg
, mapsize =
, map_alt = Location of the Isle of Man in Europe
, map_caption = Location of the Isle of Man (green)
in Europe ...
Harbour Board for the sum of £40,752 (about £4.3 million in today's terms) by
Head Wrightson
Head Wrightson was a big heavy industrial firm based at Thornaby-on-Tees, North Yorkshire, England. It specialised in the manufacture of large industrial products such as fractional distillation columns, which sometimes needed special transpo ...
of
Stockton-on-Tees
Stockton-on-Tees, often simply referred to as Stockton, is a market town in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham, England. It is on the northern banks of the River Tees, part of the Teesside built-up area. The town had an estimated ...
, England. The designer was
Sir John Coode
Sir John Coode (11 November 1816 – 2 March 1892), English civil engineer, known for harbour works.
Life
He was born at Bodmin on 11 November 1816. He was educated at Bodmin Grammar School and after leaving school entered his father's office ...
, who later became president of the
Institution of Civil Engineers
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) is an independent professional association for civil engineers and a charitable body in the United Kingdom. Based in London, ICE has over 92,000 members, of whom three-quarters are located in the UK, whi ...
. Construction work began in 1882 and the pier was officially opened on 22 July 1886 by
Rowley Hill,
Bishop of Sodor and Man
The Bishop of Sodor and Man is the Ordinary (officer), Ordinary of the Diocese of Sodor and Man (Manx Gaelic: ''Sodor as Mannin'') in the Province of York in the Church of England. The diocese only covers the Isle of Man. The Peel Cathedral, Cath ...
, though it had already been in use for about one year whilst being finished. The pier was originally intended as a landing stage to allow
Steam Packet ships to pick up or discharge passengers when the tide was low. At low water spring tides one could expect about at the pier head, enough for ships of about in length to pick up their passengers.
Tramway
The builders installed a tramway on the pier to help transport building materials to the end of the pier. The tramway was intended to be dismantled once the pier was completed. However, Sir John added some passing loops and some sidings, so that passenger baggage could be moved easily up and down the pier without passengers carrying it. The only problem was that the luggage wagons had to be pushed by hand. It was not until the 1900s that a passenger car was added so that passengers did not have to walk the , which was especially unpopular when it was windy and raining. As that also had to be pushed by hand, it was quicker to walk.
In the 1930s a locomotive powered by a Ford engine was added: it travelled at just under . In the 1950s they added a Wickham railcar powered by a Ford engine, which could reach speeds of , but they were never allowed to open the throttle up as the brakes were inadequate. A turning loop in the promenade road was added, making the tramway long. Originally operated by two hand-propelled carts for carrying luggage, it was later operated by a
Planet
A planet is a large, rounded astronomical body that is neither a star nor its remnant. The best available theory of planet formation is the nebular hypothesis, which posits that an interstellar cloud collapses out of a nebula to create a you ...
diesel locomotive
A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...
and carriage, and later still by a
railcar
A railcar (not to be confused with a railway car) is a self-propelled railway vehicle designed to transport passengers. The term "railcar" is usually used in reference to a train consisting of a single coach (carriage, car), with a drive ...
.
Closure
In 1970, the last steamer called at the Pier Head. Upon closing in June 1990 due to concerns about its safety,
the rolling stock was removed to a small museum, apart from the long-disused luggage cart that remained on site. The "Planet" locomotive is preserved at
Jurby Transport Museum
The Jurby Transport Museum ( gv, Thie Tashtee Arraghey Yurby) is a transport museum in Jurby on the Isle of Man occupying a former aircraft hangar.
The museum is operated by a group of volunteers who are members of the Manx Transport Trust. Entr ...
.
Restoration
In 2015 the Ramsey Queen's Pier Restoration Trust (QPRT) started work with the Isle of Man Government to lease the pier. The harbour director had confirmed that a three-year lease was being drawn up to offer the pier at a peppercorn rent to the trust, who were beginning to raise funds to restore the first 50 m section. In March 2016, campaigners, who had been negotiating with the Manx government for a licence to access to the pier to carry out a survey of the structure, announced that they hoped to have the keys to the long-closed pier within two weeks. An initial three-year licence would enable a formally constituted trust to complete repairs to the first three bays, which would provide a better understanding of what the whole project would entail. On completion of this phase, it was intended that a 99-year lease would be granted to allow the remainder of the pier to be finished and brought back into public use. Local people were being urged to join the project group to help bring about the restoration. Ways of raising the cash needed for the restoration work were being explored, and a number of fund-raising events were being targeted. In May 2016, the gates of the 130-year-old Victorian pier were officially unlocked for the first time in 25 years when the government handed over the keys to the QPRT. It was estimated that full restoration could cost around £1.5 million. The pier would, however, remain closed to the general public. A QPRT spokesman said the next stage of their campaign would see a survey undertaken before a £60,000 project got underway to restore the first of 55 bays. In July 2017, the QPRT announced that work on the pier could begin after they signed a five-year lease with the Manx government.
They plan to get the tramway up and running as soon as the pier refurbishment is completed.
The first three restored sections of the Queens Pier were reopened in July 2021. It was the result of four years' work by 20 QPRT volunteers, who hope to go on an restore bays four to eight—of 60 in total—in Phase two of the restoration. As part of the celebration, the tramway's original Hibberd locomotive and bogie carriage were loaned back to the pier by the
Jurby Transport Museum
The Jurby Transport Museum ( gv, Thie Tashtee Arraghey Yurby) is a transport museum in Jurby on the Isle of Man occupying a former aircraft hangar.
The museum is operated by a group of volunteers who are members of the Manx Transport Trust. Entr ...
. In October 2021, the Trust received a £50,000 lottery grant from the Dormant Assets Fund, which will enable the restoration to begin.
References
{{Heritage railways in the Isle of Man
Piers in the Isle of Man