Bacon-butty reward for brilliant builders

Photo: Darren Robinson

BREAKFAST is served . . . pictured (from left) Peter Greenhalgh of DCT Civil Engineering, Ken France of Unity Partnership and Jennifer Greenwood from Love Lydgate.

BUILDERS often get tarred with a reputation for being slack and slow.

But in Lydgate, residents were so impressed with the workers who came down to do repairs in their village, that they gave them a heart-warming breakfast.

The Love Lydgate group paid for the grub and cups of tea for the men, prepared by staff at the White Hart pub.

The builders from DCT Civil Engineering, based in Shaw, have been repairing and building walls on Stockport Road and Oldham Road since November.

Over recent decades, a sharp increase in volume of traffic coupled with a lack of funding for maintenance has led to gradual deterioration of the walls.

The restoration programme — which is almost complete, will improve the highway-retaining structures, ensuring roads and access can safely be kept open for the long term. Jennifer Greenwood, one of Love Lydgate’s organisers, said: “The walls were derelict and dangerous retaining walls for the road so they had to be done.

“The men have been so professional and polite and we are thrilled with the job they’ve done.

“We’ve given them the Freedom of Lydgate and told them they are very welcome here anytime! They told us it was nice to be appreciated as they don’t usually get any feedback.”

John Hensman, development director at DCT, said: “We’re an Oldham company with a local workforce and it satisfies us to know that the residents are pleased with the hard work we have done.

“Many people get upset about what goes on with construction so it’s nice to be appreciated!”

Now, with their newly-created flowerbeds, locals can look forward to entering Lydgate in Bloom later in the year.

Ken France, master craftsman of dry-stone walling contracted to Unity Partnership said: “We have restored these walls using traditional methods that are centuries old.”

The highways retaining wall restoration programme won an excellence award from Unity Partnership’s private-sector owner Mouchel and has just been short-listed for a national Green Apple Award in the ‘built environment and architectural heritage’ category, with the winner announced in April.