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Work on repairing historic church tower begins
Workmen have moved in to repair a crumbling bell tower - thought to be Preston's oldest working building.
A massive 200,000 fund-raising drive over the past few years has culminated in the restoration of St John Baptist Church in Broughton, Preston.
Dating back to 1533, the damp stone tower has been inaccessible for some time, although the bells still ring out at least three times a week. Now, the tower is encased in scaffolding and work will be taking place over the next few weeks to preserve the tower.
The cracked walls will be strengthened and general maintenance carried out at a cost of around 140,000.
Canon Sidney Fox said: "Stone work has been taken down and will be pinned back on.
"If it hadn't have been taken down, there would have been a danger of it falling off.
"All the Victorian ironwork has gone rusty and expanded and made it unsafe."
He said he hoped the work would be completed by Christmas but said: "We hope it will be finished a bit before but we're in the hands of the weather now."
The work has been made possible thanks to a 60,000 English Heritage and Heritage Lottery Fund grant – and tireless fund-raising in the community.
It is the second phase of work, which began in 2007, to renovate the Grade II* listed Church Lane building, which dates to 1826.
Canon Fox said another 35,000 was still needed to hit the fund-raising target and allow pathways to be improved.
The work suffered a setback in April and May when thieves struck twice, digging expensive York flagstones.
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Weather for Preston
Thursday 09 February 2012
Today
Light sleet
Temperature: 1 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 10 mph
Wind direction: South east
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Light sleet
Temperature: -3 C to 3 C
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