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Sandown Railing Painting Finishes By Floodlight

A mammoth effort by volunteers, saw the project to repaint all the railings on the Sandown esplanade finish last Thursday.

Planned to be a twilight session, failing light saw the volunteers persevere to finish by street light.

The project, started in July, concluded with this fourth session and a total of 300 hours of volunteered time.

Over 750m of Victorian era railings have been restored to their prime.

The earliest picture of the railings dates back to approximately 1890, and although in black and white, shows they were likely black.

However, it was evident when removing the old flaking paint, the railing has had many colours in the past from sky blue to green and even orange.

Organised by Cllr Paddy Lightfoot and significantly funded by Sandown Town Council, local businesses have also helped out with donations of equipment.

During the sessions, which saw over 45 people working on one occasion, seafront cafes supported the volunteers with free drinks and ice creams.

Cllr Lightfoot said:

“It’s an impressive volunteer effort, the first of hopefully many Bay Place Plan projects aimed at improving the places we live and work in.

"We have seen volunteers aged from 12 to 90 helping out”.

The response from local resident volunteers has been impressive, including some who had travelled from outside Sandown to join in.

Many residents and visitors have also voiced their appreciation for the efforts of the volunteers.

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