Ramsey Queen's Pier project given Donald Collister grant

Work to restore the first bay of the Queen's Pier is already under way

A heritage fund set up to support Manx projects has provided a cash boost for a scheme refurbishing a Victorian pier.

The Donald Collister programme, named after the benefactor who left £1m to the nation, has given £5,000 towards the work on Ramsey's Queen's Pier.

The Queen's Pier Restoration Trust (QPRT) spokesman Graham Curphey said volunteers were "over the moon with the generosity" of the grant.

He said the money would go towards the restoration of two bays of the pier.

First opened in 1886, Queen's Pier provided a deep water berth for visiting vessels until 1970, when it fell into disuse before being closed for safety reasons in 1991.

In 2016, the Manx government granted the QPRT a five-year lease to refurbish part of the structure and the trust has permission to work on the first three bays.

It is estimated replacing all of the pier's 60 bays could cost more than £1.5m.

The original iron supports for the walkway are being replaced with new ones made of steel

Mr Collister, of Colby, died in 2007 and left his entire estate to Manx National Heritage.

More than £200,000 has so far been handed out in grants.

In February, the programme's director Edmund Southworth said trustees wanted the "very significant" bequest to "benefit the whole island".

Alongside the grant for the pier, the programme has also recently funded the production of a video to introduce a new Laxey Valley Heritage Trail, an exhibition to mark the 80th anniversary of the sinking of Mona's Queen and an island-wide peat land survey.