Brownsea Island is located in Poole Harbour, Dorset. As well as being very popular as a tourist destination it has important natural habitats – including woodland, heathland and a lagoon – creating a unique haven for wildlife such as the rare red squirrel and a wide variety of birds, including dunlin, kingfishers, common and sandwich terns and oystercatchers.

The lagoon serves another purpose as the source of water for the island fire fighting system; a pumped ring main with hydrants at key locations. It had a brick dam at one end that was in poor repair, a sluice valve that no longer operated properly and an overflow that was in bad repair. The National Trust were seeking a contractor to repair the dam and install a new sluice, and as we work regularly for them they asked us if we would be able to take the project on. Despite not sounding like our kind of job, the skills required are something that we use on may of our jobs: bricklaying, concrete form work and installing pipes.

Client: National Trust

Works: Repair the dam and install a new sluice