Restoring Candie ticket office is builder’s tribute to mother

Art Leadbeater, 72, said he had done it memory of his mother, Lucy, who died in August 2020, aged 93.

The two would often walk in Candie Gardens and it was special place to both of them.

‘She remembered going to the ticket office with her sisters to get tickets for the auditorium and as a little boy I came here with her myself,’ said Mr Leadbeater.

‘We’d often talk about the ticket office and she said it was a shame to see it derelict.’

After seeing a story in the Guernsey Press, Mr Leadbeater contacted St Peter Port douzaine to offer his services. They directed him to Agriculture and Land Management Services, which was delighted with the offer of help.

‘I could have made a bench, but it would only rot and probably not get replaced and thought this would be more permanent,’ he said.

Mr Leadbeater did not know when the ticket office had been built, but old photographs suggest it had to be between 1898 and 1908.

His original intention was to work on it mornings only, but the number of hours involved turned out to be greater than he had thought. He started work on 14 August and finished on 14 December.

‘I made the roof trusses and the windows in my workshop,’ he said. ‘The water had to brought here in cans and the only electricity came from a portable generator.’

Mr Leadbeater approached friends and contacts requesting help with labour or materials and he was thrilled that not one of them had turned him down.

Ivy had penetrated every single brick course and lifted the floor. This meant the structure had to be taken to the ground.

‘I had to wire brush every side of every brick and spray it with white vinegar before I could start putting it back.’

Mr Leadbeater did not point the mortar joints as he said that had not been done in the first place. The original materials were re-used where ever possible as he sought to maintain the character of the original structure. This even included original coat hangers, which were cleaned and waxed to maintain the patina.

‘Lose the patina and you lose the history,’ he said.

The structure was so infested with ants that he said he was getting bitten as he was taking it down.

The original opening from where people would buy their tickets that was on the pavement side was bricked up some years ago and is currently covered by an information board.

Consideration was being given to reopening it and Mr Leadbeater said he would be prepared to do it.

‘If you do it, you really need a use for it and then you have to think of vandalism,’ he said.

In the building trade for more than 50 years, Mr Leadbeater said he had carried out many renovations and this one had helped him to get over the death of his mother.

A spokesman for ACLMS said the public had been encouraged by Mr Leadbeater’s work and they wished to thank and commend him for his great effort.

They also played their part

THE following people helped by donating their time and/or materials.

. Stuart Moncrief Carpentry and River Marsh.

. Sean Thoume and Brendan Evans, from Norman Piette.

. Del from Action Scaffolding. n Terry from T&C Roofing.

. Thomas Hearne.

. Marcel from Foulon Joinery Works.

. Mr Leadbeater’s eldest grandson, Franky Leadbeater, and his son, Marc Leadbeater.