The public will soon be able to take a walk on the latest stretch of Queen’s Pier to be restored.

The fourth and fifth bays of the Ramsey attraction are nearly complete and the pier will host an event for King Charles’s Coronation.

There will be an afternoon tea held at the historic structure the following Monday, May 8 at 2pm.

From May 14, the pier will then be open every Sunday throughout the summer months between 2pm and 5pm until the end of September.

There will be no admission charge for the pier over the summer.

Queen’s Pier Restoration Trust signed a five-year lease with the government in July 2017 to restore the first three bays.

There was a condition that the work was completed in five years, but it was actually done within four.

The lease has since been extended another 15 years with further extensions available if needed.

Dennis Curphey took control of the project in early 2022 and comes from a background of 57 years in construction, 20 years of which as a site manager.

His brother Graham is treasurer for the trust.

There is currently a team of 10 regular volunteers working on the pier four days a week.

Mr Curphey said: ‘We fitted the steel for bays four and five and are currently putting the plaques, bought and dedicated by the public, on the bays.’

A big lift operation using a telehandler operating from the beach was carried out over three days in November to swap the corroded old iron girders for new steel.

Phase two of the project, which goes up to bay eight, looks set to be completed next year.

Delivery of steel for bay six is due this month.

Bays seven and eight will be surveyed before the steelwork is ordered and this will require the scaffolding to be moved from the earlier bays.

The overall restoration is set to cost £4.5m, with each of the 60 bays costing £75,000.

The Queen’s Pier is 2,241 feet long, longer than Snaefell is tall, and was opened to the public in 1886.

The pier had a tramway, which was initially used solely to transport construction materials and then baggage but went on to carry passengers too.

The landmark was closed in 1990 due to safety concerns and increased maintenance costs.

A report commissioned by government estimated restoration costs at £2.5m, while the cost of demolition was put at £1m.

Funding for the project comes through donations from the public and fundraising events such as coffee mornings and bingo sessions.

The largest single donation to the restoration trust came from the will of Johnny Green, a popular gardener from the town who loved fishing off the pier. He left £30,000 to the pier trust.

In March, the trust was gifted a total of 36 lengths of rail from Auldyn Construction, which is replacing the track on the Snaefell tramway.

A spokesperson for the trust said: ‘Fortunately these are suitable for our track on the pier and we are so grateful for this very generous donation.’

Mr Curphey said: ‘This year, all things being equal of course, we hope to see a great leap forward in our quest for the restoration of phase two.

‘We can only go as fast as the money comes in. This is due, in the main, to the ever-increasing costs of the materials we need, energy costs for our steel fabricators, galvanising and painting.’

The project has, so far, cost the trust £375,000.

The restoration was started by Tom Durrant, a retired engineer.

Speaking to Isle of Man Today in 2018, he said: ‘We’ve got to be able to show people we are capable – and we are capable – of restoring the pier so people can walk on it.’

In November 2021 Lieutenant Governor Sir John Lorimer and his wife paid their first visit to the pier. On that day Lady Lorimer said that when she had a free day she would volunteer her services to the pier’s restoration.

And despite her hectic schedule, last month she kept to her word.

Lady Lorimer joined regular volunteers Christina and Gillian for a morning’s work of sanding and applying Danish oil varnish to the rail’s centre planks.

The next fundraiser will be a coffee morning on April 22 at Ramsey town hall from 10am to midday.