Following the excellent news that the Old Harbour restoration project successful Historic England bid the more challenging work of repairing and re-setting has begun. Some stonework has already been carried out, namely the re-stapling of capping stones and re-positioning of quoins on the edge of the Old Quay and the top of the slip by the old Rest.
Two key jobs are currently out to tender. The biggest of these is laying new stone to complete the Red Lion slip with granite supplied by Cornish Granite Supplies based in St Just. The second is re-pointing, using lime mortar, the Old Quay parapet. Samples of the original lime cement have been analysed for a match.
What may go un-noticed when walking along the Old Quay is that much of the surface was covered with tarmac – with two different mixes! One of these used what was tar mixed with the fine gravel found inside the harbour near the highwater line. These areas of the quay will be tarmaced once again in an effort to provide a smooth and safe a working/walking surface while meeting the Grade II listed buidling criteria for the quay.
Edge stones on the short slip by the Rest have become dislodged over many years. This slip allows access for larger vehicles that can come across the beach from the slip at ower Green Street.
The larger stones were removed and underneatht them cleaned of debris that then allowd them to be replaced in their original position.
A sample bag of old granite sets has been delivered to allow for contractors to quote laying the new slip surface.
They will be laid on top of the old gash surface.
In this photo the full extent of the slip is revealed. A few youngsters are sat where the repair has been made. Today, the rest of the slip is covered by an accummilation of stone, soil and vegetation.
Looking down from the road outside the Red Lion the missing stones can be seen.
Completing the Red Lion slip in stone work will allow secure and safe access to vessels and across to the Old Quay.
The most severeky damaged edge stones were cited for repair or replacement.
Some edge stones, having been being stapled several times over hundreds of years, were deemed a safety hazard and therefore required replacement.
The replacement quoins used in fact came from the North Pier (1895). Two stones were selected but one had to be shortened to fit the space. The Cornish Granite Company at St Just cut the larger stone in half and cut both front faces vertical as they were sloping outwards and then ‘punch finished’ the front faces to match the top face. The North Pier has a sloping front face and quoins to match. The quoin that it was replacing was 60” long but had split into three pieces because of pegs inside rusting and expanding. The re-worked stones will darken in appearance soon enough and they were purposely fitted at different heights to match the rest of the old quay. The Old Quay parapet is still to be re-pointed in places with lime mortar.
The North Pier stones had been stored in theharbour car park for over 40 years.
The three cut stones ready to be re-worked and trimmed before fitting in place.
Waterdance very kindly lent the services of a driver and their Manitou front loader to lift the stones onto the quay at low water.
The Old Quay looking like it’s missing a tooth, with the stone ready to be fitted in place.
The temptation to throw these huge stones off the top of the quay back in to the harbour was just too tempting for some local lads – would be good of they could direct their energy into helping rather than hindering!
The newly cut and trimmed stones are now in situ.
In time, the re-worked faces faces will age in appearance to blend in with the rest of the quay.
