In the last few weeks, things have been moving along with the Cleethorpes Townscape Heritage Programme, and now you can see two restored balconies peaking over the hoardings in front of shops on Alexandra Road.
Carried out by different contractors, you can now see the two balconies, above 21-24 Alexandra Road and above 41 Alexandra Road in their restored states.
The balconies are contained in six blocks of differing designs along the road. Working with the Scottish Ironwork Foundation, research has been carried out to identify the designs and Scottish foundries that supplied the structures.
Research was done in 2021 in partnership with The University of Lincoln School of History and Heritage Dept, to determine the original colours of the balconies along the road – with a variety of heritage colours revealed.
The balcony in 21-24 Alexandra Road, was manufactured by J & A Law Glasgow and is marked on columns. Similar columns exist at Southport in their 1902 catalogue, thus dating this structure to the early part of the last century. Other similar examples of the balcony panels exist as balconies at Worthing, and as a railing in Edinburgh. This paint analysis concluded that this particular balcony block was a dark Ruby Red, which is the new colour on the restored balcony.
This stretch of balcony has been restored by Calibre Metalwork Ltd. Malcolm Dobson, from Calibre Metalwork, said: “We’ve worked on many ironwork restoration projects across the country for the national trust, local authorities and private clients etc, both inland and at the seaside, over many years. We’ve work hard with the architects to retain as much of the original structural ironwork columns and panels as possible. It’s been a privilege being part of this project.”
Meanwhile, according to research by The Scottish Ironwork Foundation, the balcony for 41 Alexandra Road was manufactured by George Wright & Co & Lion Foundry of Kirkintilloch and it is believed to be the only example of its kind to have survived. The paint analysis revealed blue and cream for this stretch of balcony, so these colours have been replicated using RAL5023 Distant Blue with RAL1013 Oyster White for the detailing. This balcony was restored by Lost Art.
Cllr Tom Furneaux, Cabinet member for heritage, said: “It’s great to see these balconies back in place, and I can’t wait to see the hoardings removed and reveal the work that’s gone on behind them! The vital restoration of these balconies is testament to the hard work being undertaken in the borough to help preserve our past heritage and it’s something I’m passionate about helping to preserve for future generations to see.”
Discover Cleethorpes Heritage’ is a four-year Townscape Heritage (TH) programme launched in 2018, which has recently been extended to December 2024. The scheme is supported by £1.9m from the National Lottery Heritage Fund (NLHF) and £1m from North East Lincolnshire Council (NELC), and circa 900k of 3rd party match funding from the property freeholders/leaseholders.
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