Lumps of stone have fallen from around St Mary's clock. Railings have been put out below to prevent injury, but there are no plans to repair this landmark, meanwhile the pavement just in front of the railings has collapsed. The old graveyard extends under the pavement and road of Churchgate and one or more of the tombs have subsided.
A piece of fallen stone (pictured here) along with stone from the chancel and vestry has been analysed at Manchester University. I probably should not reveal the findings here. I'll leave it for Jim's talk (8pm 2 Nov, The Old Rectory).
Across Churchgate, the recent strong winds have blown down scaffolding and boarding surrounding the Mealhouse and adjacent buildings. The silver lining of this ill-wind is that the boarding has been replaced with wire fencing, so now we can see the renovations in progress.
