St John the Baptist Church sustained some storm damage at the beginning of December 2021, although its sister church at Boraston was thankfully spared. One of the large lead rolls on the south east face of the spire was dislodged by Storm Arwen on December 3rd and 4th, which also brought down some of the oak cladding. Storm Barra struck only 3 days later, bringing the loose lead roll down along with the one immediately above it, damaging tiles on the North aisle and porch roofs as they crashed down into the churchyard.Members of our community donating some reclaimed roof tiles, and Stuart Lapper and Phil Matulja repaired the holes and patched up the cladding - a great community effort which cost nothing.Thanks to Storm Eunice, the spire sustained some additional damage between the 20th and 22nd of February. Because the underlying structure requires a comprehensive programme of repairs - which is the subject of an ongoing feasibility study and costing.Contractors will be on site on March 21st to replace the fallen lead rolls with a temporary covering of Ubiflex - a lead substitute - which will keep the worst of the weather out until we can raise sufficient funds for full refurbishment. The PCC would like to thank our project architect, Robert Kilgour, and Stephen Challenger at Hereford Diocese for their support and for authorising the emergency repairs so quickly.
