Client: Newcastle City Council

Duration: 12 weeks

Value: £62,000

Completion: October 2017

We were employed to carry out restoration works when in February 2017, vandals caused outrage as they targeted the balustrades on the historic Victorian Terrace at Leazes Park in Newcastle City Centre.

Leazes Park is Newcastle’s oldest public park with the Victorian Terrace being an important focal point.  The Terrace was first commissioned back in April 1879, and still to this day, is used for special events with the bandstand and foliage forming an impressive backdrop.  The Terrace is made from an early type of stone and granite fixed cement.

A full restoration review of the Victorian Terrace was made by a specialist team wherein other essential repairs where identified.   The commissioning of these works was extremely important as specialist skills and techniques were needed to replicate the original methods of construction.

Works were completed on time and in budget which will guarantee residents, park users and visitors to Leazes Park will enjoy the exquisite example of heritage for years to come.

Client: Northumberland County Council

Duration:  June 2015 – September 2016

Value: £450k

Location: Northumberland

Ford Castle is a medieval castle set in the rolling countryside of Northumberland, and is now an outdoor residential centre for school children.

Steeped in history, the castle itself has belonged to the Lord Joicey family since 1907 and sits on the Ford and Etal Estates.  It has been operated since 1956 as an Outdoor Education Centre, first by Northumberland County Council and since 2012 by the Chateau Beaumont Group.

We worked continuously at Ford Castle during 2015/16 on a variety of different elements of the historic buildings.  Internal works to the castle have included a variety of heritage trades including lime plastering and various joinery works.  The joinery works that were carried out internally have included both structural and aesthetic items across a multitude of rooms/areas.

Externally, a great amount of works have been carried out to the roof areas and the castle structure including boundary walls and outbuildings.  Given the nature of the construction, our stonemasons have been continually occupied over the contract duration attending to various elements such as crenulations, lime pointing and stone rebuilding.

Given the nature of the construction, our stonemasons have been continually occupied over the contract duration attending to various elements such as crenulations, lime pointing and stone rebuilding.

This project required the use of specialist trades, and MGM directly employ a number of specialist heritage tradesmen which allows a continually high level of performance to be gained on projects of this nature.

Client:  English Heritage

Duration:  Works carried out over four phases between 2013 – 2016

Value:  £1.7 million

Location:  Northumberland

MGM Ltd were invited to tender to deliver this historic project for English Heritage on one of the world’s heritage visitor sites.  MGM were employed to redevelop the existing building.   Works included M&E, structural alterations, new floors, insulating the existing walls and loft with Kingspan insulation, rebuilding various elevations of stonework, timber repairs to floors and roof, external landscaping, installation of new timber windows and decoration.  Site requirements meant that during winter period operatives had to stay on site in lodgings.

Access by vehicle was impossible due to the snow.    Working closely with the clients team works are were completed ahead of programme and the building was completed for the official opening day. Works were all completed well within the client’s budget and funding.  Open day held during works for public to view works from a safe area.

MGM Ltd were employed on Phase 2 in preference to the most competitive tender to redevelop and extend the existing building.   This was as a direct result of our ability to deliver the Housesteads Museum Contract (Phase 1). Being part of a World Heritage Site, we worked with the archaeologist on works being done to the ground under a watching brief.

We were then employed to carry out Phase 3 – this phase of the project consisted of a new toilet  block refurbishment, raise the single storey building to a two storey building to create a glazed mezzanine dining area, a glazed oak and glass canopy providing protection to visitors.  Up the hill from the visitors centre is the museum, where we carried out major alterations and refurbishments consisting of new floors, new arched entrances, film theatre, offices, heating and ventilation system and installation of roman artefacts.  Phase 4 then followed consisting of external works in new footpaths and step access ways along with disabled adapted access to each building on site.

Client:  The National Trust

Duration: 12 weeks

Value: £120,000

Completion: January 2016

Souter Lighthouse an iconic North East lighthouse’s appointed us to carry out works to the historic Lantern Room just in time for its 100th birthday.

Souter Lighthouse has stood tall and proud on the North East coast between South Shields and Sunderland for the past 144 years.

Famed as the world’s first purpose built electrically powered lighthouse when it opened in 1871, it was the wonder of its age.  But the metal and glass domed Lantern Room, added in 1915 when Souter was converted from electricity to high pressure oil which saw the light’s range increased from 17 to over 20 miles, is in need of urgent repair.

The original diamond shaped bespoke glass panes were restored and conserved or replaced with historically accurate replicas where necessary, corroded metalwork renovated and the whole lantern room painted inside and out.

Work took ten weeks with scaffolding being built up the exterior length of the red and white painted round tower before the dome itself is covered in a protective layer of plastic.

The lighthouse was open throughout the 10 week project and visitors had full access to the tower except for two of the weeks, when the work of stripping back decades of paint is due to took place.  This is the first time any major work has been carried out on the Lantern Room since 1915. But the rest of the lighthouse has undergone some quite dramatic changes in its near century-and-a-half’s existence.

The renovation work was funded by the National Trust’s Neptune campaign, the charity’s most successful fundraising campaign ever which for the past 50 years has helped to save some of our most beautiful, dramatic and diverse shorelines.

Souter was bought with Neptune fund money 25 years ago after being decommissioned by Trinity House in 1988.

While the lighthouse perched high on cliffs above the North Sea is no longer operational, all the machinery still works and is on show to visitors along with the tower and a reconstructed Victorian keeper’s cottage.  There’s also an open air play area complete with a small beach with deck chairs, fun activity trails and regular hands-on events.

Last year was Souter Lighthouse’s most successful with more than 28,000 visitors attracted by a diverse programme of family-friendly events.

Client: Woodhorn Trust

Duration: 6 weeks

Value: £20,000

Completion: October 2015

We were employed to convert part of the ground floor space into an exhibition area, to enable visitors to access the exhibition safely and independently without the need for supervision.  Works carried out included but not limited to – a new concrete floor, construction of walls within the space, glass works, new doors, electrical installations and decoration.  The huge winding engine has been revealed from ground level and its story is told through the use of animation and historic documentation alongside informative and entertaining oral histories, allowing the new facility to enable visitors to gain a much greater understanding of the role and significance of the Winding house

Built in 1899/1900 and located at the heart of the original colliery complex Winding House No 2 is the Last Victorian engine house in Northumberland still containing a working winder.

Jo Raw, Assistant Director at Woodhorn, has overseen the developments of the Winding House. “This project has enabled us to create a new, fully accessible experience which will be open to visitors every day. The ceiling of the ground floor space now spectacularly opens up to reveal the huge winding wheel above that dominates all 3 floors of the building making it a perfect space for everyone to learn about the crucial role the winding house played in the day to day running of the colliery.”

During this project, great care and thorough planning was required to coordinate the works around the opening times and access to the museum by members of the public.