Work is underway to secure the rock face, pavement and road at the top of Port Jack.

The enormous scaffolding structure, which climbs almost the entire height of the cliff face from the beach below and can be seen right across Douglas Bay from the Sea Terminal, is being constructed by Absolute Scaffolding.

Once the structure is completed, which is believed to be early this week, Gunform Ltd, a Wirral based specialist in applying sprayed concrete to stabilise of rock excavations will then have access to the face of the retaining wall in order to undertake maintenance work.

A spokesman for the Department of Infrastrcuture explained: ’The work involves fixing a steel mesh to the face of the revetment by drilling steel dowels through it and then spraying a layer of concrete over the steel to provide a more robust and cohesive face.

’This will reduce ongoing maintenance requirements and extend the life of the structure.’

The area at Port Jack was first used as a bathing creek during the Victorian era from about 1892 and was described in a tourist booklet in 1896 as ’on the north side of the bay a short distance beyond the Douglas Bay Hotel, a beautiful, secluded bathing creek’.

Today the area may not attract tourists like it used to, but it has found new life, with the shops and chippy on the road above, Port Jack is a popular spot for viewers when the red arrows have made trips to the island.

The beach is popular with the community young and old, the rocks, pools and cliffs always being a favourite for children to climb over and explore and the views from the top across Douglas bay provide a spectacular view.

The work to secure the cliff and the surrounding area is scheduled to take until the middle of May with the scaffolding being removed before TT week.