Work to re-surface the Red Lion slip with granite setts is nearing completion.  In all, over 350 sq metres of cut and dressed stone supplied by Cornwall Granite Supplies has been delivered on site. the team from Symons Construction are nearing the end of the work to restore and improve access via the Red Lion slip to the inner harbour area.

Once the new stone setts have been installed attention will be turned to completing repairs planned for the wrought iron handrail that runs the length of the slip. 

The steps are now revealed

While clearing overgrown vegetation, the centuries old access steps from the edge of the Red Lion slip were revealed.  The steps are simply long granite stones that stick out from the side of the slip wall – styles with steps like this are a common site in Cornish hedges.  The lowest of the four stone steps appeared to have been broken off at sometime. Since then it has come to light that the step fell into the harbour in the 1980s – as witnessed by two young fishermen who recalled the day it happened. Over recent months many individual granite stones have been cleared from in and around the Old Quay – it is hoped that one of these is the missing step and can be replaced!

With the scaffolding in place courtesy of Sedgemans, local building contractors who rcently completed reairs to the South Pier moved on site to begin work on the Old Quay’s parapet wall. Until the South Pier was completed in 1887, the Old Quay was subject, over the centuries, to every severe southery storm that hit Newlyn. Severe storms overtopping the wall have seen most of the original lime pointing washed away. After volunteers  removed tons of growth earlier in the year, the team from Symons, using a traditional 3-1 mix of coarse sand to lime have been busy re-pointing the parapet wall and top. Although mild for most of the time, December weather saw some days when work was carried out under heavy showers and gale force winds.

Remarkable progress has been made down the Old Harbour!

With the scaffolding successfully erected surrounding the Old Quay parapet wall the stage was set for the stone and restoration contractors to swing into action.

Monday morning saw the arrival of two teams from Symons Construction whose job is is to lay new granite sets down the Red Lion slip and re-point the parapet wall on the Old Quay.

The week started with temperatures above average and sunshine, by mid-week the temperature had plummeted to just above freezing and driving rain followed  by two chilly days of blue skies.

In that time, the parapet’s facing wall was pointed and the groundwork all but completed for the Red Lion slip in prepartion for laying the granite setts that were delivered on Wednesday.

Iain, Torsen and Marcus are the the guys mixing the lime mortar and wielding the trowels on the parapet wall.

To date, much of the work, apart from the ironwork, has been carried by a trusty band of volunteers. Now the serious work begins to address the restoration of the Red Lion slip and the Old Quay parapet. With the succesful nomination of Cornish Granite Supplies to source, cut and dress the granite, the Red Lion slip is ready for the  for delivery of cut stone on Monday, 17th November.

The Red Lion slip viewed from Fore Street. Work on this section will see the installation of the granite setts. South West Water have been and tested the outfalls that run onder the line of granite quoins to ensure the source of adit drainage and outfall.

Owners of the dinghys and canoes need to remove them by Monday at the latest! See this notice from the harbour office.

Concurrently, work on the Old Quay itself will shortly begin now that the scaffolding has been erected. This will mainly consist of re-pointing using lime mortar to and above the inner parapet wall. Much care is being taken to preserve the layers of tar and pitch that cover some of the granite used in the parapet from centuries of maintaining the old wooden lugger fleet – wherepitcha dtar were used to protect and preserve the wooden hulls and decks.

Over the next few weeks work will begin re-surfacing the Red Lion slip area with granite sourced and cut by West Cornwall Granite Supplies from St Just.

Local skipper and Cornwall Sardine Management Association champion Gus Caslake is seen here happy to give the Sheila-T a clean up ready for painting above and beow the waterline. Inside the Old Harbour there is less ‘run’ – the rise and fall created by swells passing the gaps – than that which affects other areas in the harbour used to work on boats – see the video below.

With water temperatures above average this year, rapid marine growth below the waterline has been a thing this year – here’s Andy left with the tough job of scraping off barnacles and weed by hand!

Always good to see a coat of black paint going on the hull – wind the clock back a hundred years ago when every hull was painted with tar based paint to preserve the wood in the hull and prevent marine growth down to the waterline.