Our prayers answered

IN need of repair: Father Phil Sumner at the church wall which is due to be fixed

IT was a case of double delight at St Patrick’s Church as parishioners celebrated their second lottery grant in less than a year.

Last November, the bell at the Union Street West church was tolled for the first time in 50 years thanks to extensive restoration work.

And now, the church has received another £41,000 grant from the English Heritage Lottery Fund to carry out essential structural work to interior and exterior walls.

As builders worked on the bell-tower project, they noticed damage to a passageway from the church to the priest’s house.

The passageway is slowly pulling the back wall of the priest’s house away from the rest of the building.

There is also damage to the stained-glass windows in the back wall and erosion to some of the stone window surrounds.

Built in 1869, St Patrick’s is a Grade-II listed building and is the second oldest Roman Catholic church in the borough.

It has an ongoing programme of refurbishment and development in readiness for the arrival of the new Metrolink line next spring. One of the new stops will be built in King Street, directly outside the church’s front door.