A Mirfield priest will take on the Great North Run to help fundraise for the last leg of St Mary’s church's restoration journey.
To help ease the strain of the £253,128.01 bill for the repair of the church’s stone work and pinnacles, the Revd Hugh Baker, Vicar of Mirfield Team Parish which includes St Mary’s Church, will take part in the Great North Run on Sunday September 13th to raise money for the St Mary’s Tower Appeal.
Hugh said, "Three years of planning and fundraising is now nearly coming to an end with a huge 'Thank You' to everyone who has given their support in one way or another.
"We anticipate the new bells will ring out calling the people of Mirfield to worship and to celebrate weddings and other joyful occasions at St Mary's for another 140 years."
The image on the right shows Hugh Baker with Barry Firth placing the vane on the Tower's pinnacle.
The money Mr Baker raises from the Run will go towards the final stages of the church’s restoration of the tower, enabling the lifting beam to be put in place so that the ten bells can begin to be lowered through St Mary’s and dismantled on Monday, a process that will take up to two weeks.
A lorry will then transport the ten bells to Taylor’s of Loughborough, six of them to be melted down and recast, while the back four bells will be re-tuned to complete the improved ring of ten.
Hopefully the bells will be returned early next year and will be hauled back up into the Tower.
The topping out of the restoration work that has already been completed on the Tower was marked by Revd Hugh Baker and Barry Firth, Maysand’s site manager, who placed a weather vane on one of the Tower’s landmark pinnacles.
Mirfield Town Council have also provided St Mary’s with a grant to re-gild the face of the church clock, saving costs in the long run as the expensive scaffolding will not have to be paid for a second time.
The image on the right shows Hugh Baker with the re-gilded church clock.
It became obvious that the church needed work after large chunks of masonry began falling at random from the Tower, designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott.
After 144 years, the Mirfield bells were rung for the final time on Easter Day by the Yorkshire Association of Change Ringers who recorded the performance so a comparison can be made with the new bells in place.
The Tower restoration was partly funded by a grant of £181,000 from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £10,000 from the National Churches Trust, while the bell ringers raised £80,000 by running Saturday cafés and other events and the family of the late John Crossland donated £10,000 to recast one of the bells, hoping to name it Uncle John.
To sponsor Revd Hugh through the Great North Run, please email him on the address below for a donation form.
For more information on the Tower's restoration, please contact Revd Hugh Baker: 01924492530 / hughcbaker@gmail.com
Or Ian Boocock: Mobile - 07789 304184
Or Ruth Edwards: 01924492129 / 07840395096