Latest news with #FloortjeHoette
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Time capsule will raise funds for Leas Cliff Lift
People who want to support the restoration of a piece of remarkable Victorian engineering are being offered the opportunity to become part of the structure's history. The Leas Cliff Lift in Folkestone, Kent, which links the town's promenade and seafront, celebrates its 140th birthday in 2025. Donors to the campaign to keep it running are being offered the opportunity to have their names and messages placed into a time capsule in the building. Powered by water, the Grade II* listed funicular is one of only eight left in the country. The time capsule will be marked with 104 brass plates fixed to the rail's sleepers and displayed at the site, with each one bearing a donor's name. There are four levels of donation, £10, £100, £250 and £500, with the unveiling set for 27 September. Floortje Hoette, chief executive officer of the Folkestone Leas Lift Company charity, said: "For 140 years, the Leas Lift has been a timeless connection between Folkestone's past, present and future. "This campaign allows people to become a part of that legacy while supporting the final stages of restoration." Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Leas Lift carriages removed for restoration Work to start on £6.6m funicular restoration Funicular to reopen as fundraising target reached The Leas Lift Company
BBC News
15-05-2025
- General
- BBC News
Folkestone Leas Lift time capsule fundraising project launched
People who want to support the restoration of a piece of remarkable Victorian engineering are being offered the opportunity to become part of the structure's Leas Cliff Lift in Folkestone, Kent, which links the town's promenade and seafront, celebrates its 140th birthday in to the campaign to keep it running are being offered the opportunity to have their names and messages placed into a time capsule in the by water, the Grade II* listed funicular is one of only eight left in the country. The time capsule will be marked with 104 brass plates fixed to the rail's sleepers and displayed at the site, with each one bearing a donor's are four levels of donation, £10, £100, £250 and £500, with the unveiling set for 27 September. Floortje Hoette, chief executive officer of the Folkestone Leas Lift Company charity, said: "For 140 years, the Leas Lift has been a timeless connection between Folkestone's past, present and future."This campaign allows people to become a part of that legacy while supporting the final stages of restoration."
BBC News
27-02-2025
- BBC News
Folkestone: Leas Lift carriages to be removed for restoration
Two carriages are to be wrenched off the tracks at Leas Lift by a crane and inspected as part of a restoration 140-year-old Grade II listed funicular in Folkestone, Kent, is to reopen in early 2026 after closing in 2017 due to issues with its breaking weather permits, the work to remove both carriages is to be begin at 10:00 GMT on Thursday, followed by the two bogies with wheels, The Leas Lift Charity began on the overall restoration on 10 February following a £6.7m fundraising target was met, alongside a £4.8m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund. Each carriage weighs 1.5 tonnes and the bogies weigh three tonnes with a 500kg lifting cradle, each lift weighs roughly the equivalent of a baby elephant at 4.5 tonnes, the charity carriages and bogies will be taken to Northamptonshire for approximately six months depending on the amount of restoration work needed. Apex Contractors were appointed by the charity in 2024 to oversee the work, which will include the excavation of the cliff to extend the station footprint and the repair of the track and building company will also replace of the sheave wheel and restore of the pump room and existing Leas Lift Charity chief executive, Floortje Hoette, said: "There is still a little way to go, but there will be many key moments and milestones for the public to see."This is a very special place, and we are bringing it back to life."The funicular was built after the extension of the South Eastern Railway in 1843 bought hordes of Victorian visitors to the its opening, the rail lift has carried 36 million people, the charity Leas Lift is one of only four water-balanced lifts in the UK.
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Yahoo
Work to start on £6.6m funicular restoration
Work has begun to prepare a Victorian funicular for renovation. Hording has been erected around the former ticket office and cafe around the Leas Lift in Folkestone. The carriages will be lifted off the tracks by crane for inspection at the end of the month. The lifts are expected to reopen in early 2026. The lifts, which were built in 1885 to take Victorian visitors from the top of the cliff to the beach below, were closed in 2017 after the braking system was deemed unsafe. Now, £6.6m has been raised, including £4.8m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to return the Grade II-Listed funicular to its former glory. Floortje Hoette, chief executive of Leas Lift Community Interest Company, said: "It looks a bit sad. The paint is not in good nick. It's been boarded up and is ready for its overhaul." The funicular was built after the extension of the South Eastern Railway in 1843 bought hordes of Victorian visitors to the seaside. "On the first day that they opened I think they had close to two and a half thousand passengers," said Ms Hoette. It has carried more than 36 million people since. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Funicular to reopen as fundraising target reached The Leas Lift
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Yahoo
Work to start on £6.6m funicular restoration
Work has begun to prepare a Victorian funicular for renovation. Hording has been erected around the former ticket office and cafe around the Leas Lift in Folkestone. The carriages will be lifted off the tracks by crane for inspection at the end of the month. The lifts are expected to reopen in early 2026. The lifts, which were built in 1885 to take Victorian visitors from the top of the cliff to the beach below, were closed in 2017 after the braking system was deemed unsafe. Now, £6.6m has been raised, including £4.8m from the Heritage Lottery Fund, to return the Grade II-Listed funicular to its former glory. Floortje Hoette, chief executive of Leas Lift Community Interest Company, said: "It looks a bit sad. The paint is not in good nick. It's been boarded up and is ready for its overhaul." The funicular was built after the extension of the South Eastern Railway in 1843 bought hordes of Victorian visitors to the seaside. "On the first day that they opened I think they had close to two and a half thousand passengers," said Ms Hoette. It has carried more than 36 million people since. Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. Funicular to reopen as fundraising target reached The Leas Lift
