The restoration of Southsea's historic shelters and lamps

The Southsea Coastal Scheme is bringing much-needed sea defences to Portsmouth and Southsea. The £180 million project will help reduce the risk of flooding to more than 10,000 homes, 700 businesses and 74 listed structures in the area - of which around 4,000 are deemed to be at direct risk of inundation.

Of course, as well as making something that's functional the team has been tasked with improving the look and feel of the area too, with the works offering a rare opportunity to revolutionise the seafront and bring something new and fresh to this ever-popular spot.

Perhaps the most notable part of this came with the opening of Frontage 4 around Southsea Castle, which delivered the 'Theatre of the Sea' - a beautiful and tranquil area in which to sit in the sunshine and watch the ships go by.

Whilst attention has been given to the new developments in the area, consideration also needed to be given to the much-loved older features of Southsea Seafront, which needed to be maintained for many years to come.

Now, with the opening of Frontage 5 (the area around the Pyramids and Speakers Corner), we can see the favourite features of the old seafront painstakingly restored and re-installed along the new promenade.

Perhaps the most notable of these is the famous yellow shelters and ornate lamp columns. They date back to the late 19th and early 20th centuries, reflecting the growing popularity of Southsea as a seaside resort. In the intervening years they have been afforded Grade II listed status for their artistic, architectural and historical interest and gone on to become closely associated with Southsea Seafront (even featuring on a TV ad not so long ago).

Work started with the dismantling and removal of shelters and lamp columns around what is now Frontage 5, undertaken before construction work on that phase could begin.

Here's the view of the removal work going on:

And here you can see the (no doubt very careful!) drive to transport the shelters to their storage location:

Work could then begin on inspecting and repairing the shelters and lamp columns.

Decayed timber on the shelters was replaced, whilst ironwork specialists repaired any minor issues with the metal, before recasting any corroded iron decorations that were deemed beyond repair.

The end result was stunning new or restored ironwork which is capable of withstanding the hugely challenging seafront conditions for some time yet.

New materials were also used in the project where required - including zinc roofing and Perspex windows on the shelters. Plus, the lamps were cleaned and repainted, whilst the lanterns themselves were replaced.

On the left of the below image is how the lamp columns used to look, and the right is how they appear today.

There's been a similar glow up on the iconic shelters; the image on the left showing how they were just before removal, the one on the right how they look now.

That's not all, as the historic black shelter by the Rock Garden was also restored; the images below showing the before and after.

Speaking of the restoration work, Southsea Coastal Scheme project director Guy Mason explained: "It was very important for us to work sensitively within the historic environment to enhance these structures while maintaining their original look.

"The conservation repairs have ensured as much of the original fabric is preserved as possible and the lifespan of these iconic seafront assets has been significantly extended."

You can now see all these improvements yourself down at Southsea Seafront on the newly opened Frontage 5. For more information on the project and updates on its progress, see the Southsea Coastal Scheme website.