The sea defence diaries - 27/02/12 the finished product

It is almost certain that the underpinning of the Margate stone pier is to be finished on time, not that I ever doubted it for one moment.

So today I was able to see the finished product for the first time and what a neat little job it has turned out to be. As you can see in the photograph the new piling has now been capped with concrete and that is how it will look all around the stone pier even though most of the capped piling is out of view and will remain buried.

Within the next few days I expect mechanical activity in the harbour to finish and that will allow all the freshly excavated mud and clay to settle for the natural process of the tide to wash through it and reveal all the hidden treasures that have laid buried for years.

Around the square head this process has now begun and the metal detector guys are starting to work through the ground , but it is hard going as there is a lot of mineral interference that upsets the setting of most metal detectors. However, it does take patience and a few finds have turned up like nine live WWII bullets all found together wrapped up together in decomposing hessian. I expect in the coming weeks there will be many interesting finds to come.

Today being old school I took a garden rake with me and ran that through the shingle around the square head and came up with a few finds mostly lumps of lead and brass, the brass originating from the second world war including a spent detonator from a shell casing. Other finds included pieces of clay pipe, marine engine parts and another piece of the 1815 balustrade from around the lighthouse that went down in the 1953 storm.

Over on the other side of the bay by the clock tower work was being carried out rebuilding the last remaining wall of the old boating pool. This wall houses the Tivoli Brookes fresh water out fall pipe so it cannot be demolished and has to be rebuilt.

From what I could see as I took this photograph I would think the metal detector guys must be rubbing their hands with glee watching all that digging taking place in an area renowned for such good finds in the past.

Finally, today I heard some Harbour gossip and good gossip it is to. It appears that TDC do not own the sand within the harbour something I thought they did. This is because the Margate Pier and Habour Company majority shareholder still owns the Harbour revision order and this goes some way to explain why there are not many boats in the Harbour. I suppose a freedom of information request will confirm whether this is factual or not.

Also it appears that the piling around the stone pier need not had have been driven in that deep it was only done so under the insistence of TDC because they want to dredge the harbour at some time in the future which does contradict the Harbour revision order at bit. Anyway my source tells me that TDC will not now dredge Margate Harbour because of contaminants.