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Ten Victorian cast-iron steps weighing 400kg in total have been carried down from near the top of Leasowe Lighthouse after a survey found the floorboards beneath them were rotting.
A team from Birkenhead waste disposal company Rogan'z brought the steps, each weighing about 40kg, down the lighthouse on Friday morning (23 October), according to the Wirral Globe.
The steps are spare ones made in 1989 at Buckley Foundry, a well-known industrial metal casting business based in Flintshire. These steps are in addition to the 130 that are already in the lighthouse.
The spare treads have been described by Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse volunteer Rose Campion as "a huge weight on the floorboards" for the last three decades. It was important to clear the particular floor to carry out the necessary repairs of the floorboards.
Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse volunteer Rose Campion told the Globe a recent survey of the building had found the floor under them was rotten.
The group had shopped around for someone to take on the job, and had offered to sell the steps to help pay for it, but Rogan'z did the work for free.
Co-founder Peter Rogan told the Globe it was "probably one of the strangest jobs" the firm had done. The team finished in about 45 minutes.
On what the conservation group plans to do with the stairs, Ms. Champion told Wirral Today: "We are hoping to sell them and raise some funds to pay for these repairs. Before too long, we hope the full survey report will be available and we can find out exactly what other works are necessary on this ailing building, and importantly how much we will need to raise!"
She added that Rogan'z did a "fantastic job", clearing the sixth floor room efficiently. The fact they didn't charge the lighthouse team seems to be something Ms. Champion describes as a "miracle".
Leasowe Lighthouse was built in 1763 and is Grade II listed. It was switched off on 15 July 1908, later used as a tearoom, and then stood derelict for more than 50 years.
Friends of Leasowe Lighthouse, a volunteer group, was set up in 1989 to restore and look after the building, and worked with Wirral Council on a £30,000 refurbishment.
Last month, the lighthouse lit up for a British Home Child Day tribute.
The steps were placed on the grass outside the lighthouse, and Ms Campion served the Rogan'z team tea and doughnuts when the job was done.