Restored church bell is set to toll

Photo: Anthony Miller

The restored bell is gently lowered off the lorry on its arrival in Hollinwood

THE original church bell at St Margaret’s in Hollinwood has been restored to its home in the newly-restored tower.

And it could soon be striking the quarterly chimes of the church clock, also refurbished, the only public clock in Hollinwood.

The £200,000 restoration project at St Margaret’s and St Chad’s Church, in Chapel Road, began two years ago to repair the dangerous bell tower.

Original plans for the tower included four wooden floors, but as funds were limited, steel girders covered in concrete were used instead.

Over time they expanded causing cracks in the stone work and pushing the tower walls outwards.

Repair work saw the floors replaced, the walls made safe, 100-year-old ladders replaced with stainless steel ones, and the original entrance to the church reopened, with new doors and wheelchair access.

Now the bell, which has not been rung for two years, is back after restoration at specialists in Chesterfield.

With only millimetres to spare, it was raised through the hatch in the tower’s upper floor, and will be ready to ring in the celebrations for the church’s 130th anniversary on September 29.