We thought you would be interested in following our repair work that is going on on the exterior of the chancel area.

The work is to make the chancel area watertight. Refurbish the bell flèche and make the stonework sound.

The scaffolding is up and it’s high. I was amazed just how much the scaffolding cost, £11,000. The bells came down on Friday. Originally it was intended that they would be restored and go back up, but we have bats so surveys and licences had to be obtained. The bats cost £4,000 so the money for the bells has been spent on our bats. The bells have gone into storage at Taylor Bell foundry. Whilst the workmen were removing tiles, they found a long eared brown bat, who was encouraged to gain its freedom. The ecologist ensured everything was done correctly. 

Things look different from on high and we have now found the apex stone is split. And the lean on the bell flèche is of concern. Having done the maths, it appears that the bell flèche is safe and not going to fall down anytime soon. The apex stone can be repaired and pinned, so fortunately the expense of having a new one is not of immediate concern. 

The roof aspect that overlooks Trentfield Lane has taken a battering  from the weather over the years. To such an extent that many of the slate tiles, have crumbled as they have been disturbed. We now need about 50 new tiles, all shapes and sizes. This amounts to about £4000 of expenditure which we had t catered for. 

We are launching an appeal to purchase a roof tile to get the project completed. Tiles range from £250, for the large meter square ones, down to £30 for the small ones. If you would like to sponsor a tile you can do a direct transfer into the bank account. St James' Salt with St Peter’s Hopton, sort code     30-90-89 account number    38020260.  Then email saltandhoptonchurches @gmail.com with your name, so we can include you in our acknowledgment of support.  Thank you.

More news next week.