Leas Lift Renovation – Steps closer to reopening

Folkestone is home to one of three surviving Victorian, funicular, water lifts in the UK.  The Leas Lift is of national and local importance, and is inching closer to reopening with the lifting of the two carriages off their tracks for renovation at the end of February 2025, the ‘starter shot’ for the restoration works.

The Lift was closed in 2017 due to safety reasons.  Since then a team of volunteers has worked tirelessly to raise much needed funds to get it up and running again.  The team have been successful in raising £6.7 million, including a £4.8m grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.  These funds are for the renovation as well as employing community engagement staff helping to show the public just how important this piece of engineering is.

Floortje Hoette, Chief Executive Officer of Folkestone Leas Lift Company Charity, said: “This was another important day on our journey to reopen this major landmark, which is so loved by the local community.

“The two carriages will now be transported to Lincolnshire to benefit from an extensive six-month refurbishment programme by expert restorers. We are incredibly grateful to all our generous donors, and to Rodney Tolhurst and the Rochester Bridge Trust in particular, who are supporting us financially with the restoration of the carriages.”

work continues

Apex Contractors were appointed in 2024 to oversee the renovations.  The carriages will be refurbished by subcontractor Rapid Consulting, and Dan Hollis, APEX Managing Director said: “Although we have been busy on site since our appointment last November, this is the first major work the public will have seen. We have an extremely experienced and knowledgeable project team who can’t wait to play their part in restoring the Lift and engage with the local community.”

more funding

As the works get underway, the charity realises just how far they have come – £6.7 million raised on what is now a £6.9 million budget – since volunteers came together following the closure of the Lift in 2017 to fundraise 80K to repair the brake system.

Besides the National Lottery Hertiage Fund grant,  The Lift has received £1.8 million in match-funding with just under £1 million in Section 106 funding allocated by the Folkestone Harbour and Seafront Development Company (FHSDC) over the last 6 years.  In addition, expert support has been gifted by the FHSDC in terms of engineers and advisors to help plan the renovation work needed.

humbling experience

‘It’s quite humbling to realise that so many people want to see the Lift working again, and will give so much to see that happen. FHSDC’s support played a key part in unlocking the Heritage Fund grant, and we are very grateful for it’, says Cathy Beare, Chair of the Folkestone Leas Lift Company Charity , speaking to Folkelife about the responsibility that comes with undertaking such a complex and costly project:

“It’s wonderful to have been recognised by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.  It is also a lot of money which we want to spend well. We need to make sure we make the right decisions with regards to restoring this community asset.  A whole host of experts – architects, quantity surveyors, heritage engineers, planners, solicitors, insurers – have been employed by us in past years.  Alongside this, we have also had a lot of voluntary support.  Our trustees are all giving their time for free and have put in an enormous amount of hours to date.”  

community engagement

Since the start of 2024, the team has been working with the community to show why the Leas Lift is important to our heritage, and how it will benefit them as well as the town.  The Community Engagement Manager Yaz Norris is building invaluable relations with community groups to make sure everyone feels welcome at the Lift once it re-opens.

“We have an 86 page document outlining our community commitment.  There are education trips, workshops, information boards, you name it, we’ve got it planned.  It’s pretty comprehensive.”

There is plenty of nostalgia around the Leas Lift and holiday memories of years gone by.  Local fundraising has also

helped generate funds needed for the renovation of the Lift.  Cathy Beare continues:

“It’s an overwhelmingly positive response we get to the Lift when you talk to local people.  This is clearly a national treasure because of its rarity, but it’s a very important local treasure.  In recent history people would travel on it for the cost of £1 or something like that.  Now, in order for us to make this a sustainable project we need people to ride on it when it’s open.  And keep on riding on it!  We’ve had such a good response from people wanting to see it open again.  Now we need them to keep visiting and using this link from the top of the Leas to the seafront.”

visitors from far and wide

“This Lift has a far-reaching band of followers.  I was there one day recently when a family from Australia were walking past.  They’d come to the UK and made a special trip to see the Leas Lift.  It’s not only loved by those of us in the town, its pull is much greater than that. 

“I can remember my first visit to the Lift. My husband was so excited to take me on it – he’s an engineer – I thought we were going somewhere, when in reality it stopped at the bottom to a huge, horrible concrete standing and not much else! I am very much looking forward to improving the customer experience”

Victorian engineering

The Victorians engineered the funicular water lift to connect the upper promenade area of the Leas to the lower seafront, step-free access.  There were originally 3 lifts along the cliffs; the existing one, one in front of The Metropole Hotel, and a further lift in Sandgate.  The surviving lift is fondly remembered by residents and many would love to see it in use again.

Eilish McGuinness, Chief Executive of The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support the restoration of this rare surviving water lift, returning this beautiful and remarkable example of Victorian engineering to its original use connecting seafront and town.  It will also create an anchor and sense of place and connection for the local Folkestone community and visitors.  This community-led scheme absolutely delivers our vision for heritage to be valued, cared for and sustained for everyone, now and in the future.” 

Folkelife met Engineering Director, Edwin Wealend, to find out what work needs to be done in order to get the lift operating again.

World’s slowest white-knuckle ride

“The Leas Lift has a rather complex, but fascinating braking system.  There are four different fail-safes; in case the cable should snap, there’s an ingenious clamping system, and there’s another device for over-speed and so on.  It’s a joke, but people used to call the Leas Lift the world’s slowest white-knuckle ride!  Anyone who’s been on the lift will know just how steep it is, and how important it is that these brakes work.  The Lift closed in early 2017 when the Health and Safety Executive deemed these brakes unsafe.  The amount of money initially thought needed to fix them was too much for the previous group of volunteers to raise.  They did a fantastic job in keeping the lift open and repairing what they could, but this was the last straw.  

“There is a new group of trustees in place who hold a wealth of expertise in engineering, heritage and renovation.  One of the things we will have to do is replace the braking system.  We need to preserve what’s there and also install the most discrete brakes making the Lift comply with current regulations.  ACME; architects for the seafront development are working on plans to expand the footprint of the Lift site. This will aid sustainability and support us through the planning stages.”  

getting to the bare bones

“We need to strip down many parts of the lift to find out their current state, in order to find out what needs repairing. To do this, we will have removed the carriages from the tracks so we can inspect them in detail.  We need to work on the braking system, the tracks and also the wheel that controls the carriages.  We can only inspect them properly by removing them from the site.”

carbon neutral transport

“This was cutting edge technology back in 1885 when it was built.  And actually, it’s cutting edge today.  It’s so simple: there are water tanks which fill up and translate the weight of the passengers so that the lift goes down hill.  You can see where the tanks are if you’re on the top of the Leas in the summer.  They’re just underground, so if it’s a dry year, the grass gets browner here first. 

“The lift survived for so long because of the will of the volunteers who ran it.  We will be making it accessible for wheelchair users.  We also need to work out a way that makes it accessible for all members of our community regardless of wealth.  But we aim to see this as a community asset for years to come.”

Countdown until re-opening

Floortje explains that the restoration of the Leas Lift will continue throughout 2025, with its re-opening planned for spring 2026. The lifting of the carriages will be followed by the excavation of the cliff next to the lower Lift station to make room for a new café which will bring in additional income.

The original buildings, engineering infrastructure, rail tracks and water tanks will be brought back to their former glory, and a wide ramp will be added to the upper station to make the Lift accessible to all. A new sheave wheel will be installed at the top of the Lift.

“We are keeping the public up to date with any developments through our social media channels and monthly newsletter, to which you can subscribe on our website. Fundraising is continuing and we have two very exciting community fundraising campaigns in the pipeline, with one making the Leas Lift into a time capsule…. Keep an eye out for it!”