If you look at the top of the spire on the Parish Church you will see a cockerel weather vane (reputedly covered in gold) indicating the direction of the wind. How did it get there? Well the answer in the 1960’s was with a good head for heights and a very long ladder. The previous weather vane (probably Victorian) blew down in a storm. Here we see the steeple-jack starting to install the ladder which would eventually go right to the top. Each section of ladder was held to the wall by small pins driven into the stone. I’m not sure how this would be accomplished these days – a very long cherry picker or fire-engine ladder perhaps? The vane is now 60 years old.
February 2025
