Manx National Heritage has said that timbers have arrived ahead of further conservation work taking place on the Laxey Wheel later this year.

The work, which follows on from nine months of work last year, is to conserve and repair the wheel's rod duct and T-rocker.

An MNH statement said: 'The timber is all French grown, milled PEFC Certified and QPA Graded Fresh Sawn (Green) Oak.

'The longest timber is the new upper connecting rod which will connect the top of the flat rod to the top of the T Rocker - it is 11 metres in length.

'The rest of the smaller sections are the main connecting rods. The heaviest timber there is the new T-rocker main (bridging) beam - it is 450 x 450mm square, 10m long and weighs roughly 2.5 metric tonne.

'Six more timbers are due to arrive in a few weeks. These are the bearing timbers for the T-rocker, which are 470 x 470mm square and 5m long - FSC Certified Greenheart.

'They will be more than one metric tonne each.

'Greenheart is a South American hardwood, one of the strongest and most durable timbers available (approximately twice the rating of European Oak), chosen for this application where it will be permanently exposed under significant load in very difficult conditions for any timber.'