The Queen's Pier Story .. .. ..

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.