More pics of the ongoing redevelopment of St Marie’s in Widnes, as captured by Dave Clark from John Turner Construction Ltd.

The photos were taken between Monday 9th June and Friday 13th June.

A nice shot of the outside, now free from the graffiti which adorned it for a few days.

The gents is a work in progress.

We created as much space as possible inside St Marie’s so that we could begin the treatment of the floor.

The altar paintings have been returned to the building. They will remain dust free and under bubble wrap until all the restoration work has been completed.

Hello again.

Sincere apologies for the delay since I last posted. I’ve been without the internet for the past few weeks. As always, these photos were taken by Dave Clark (Project Manager and all round good egg) from John Turner Construction Ltd.

The photos were taken between Monday 2nd June and Friday 6th June.

A rail has been added to the wall on Lugsdale Road.

Where the old floor meets the new. Here, the view from the Boardroom (under the Organ Loft). You can see the difference between the original floor (not damaged by dry rot) and the new. Both will be sanded down and varnished to make them as similar as possible.

The reflectors in the roof, which reflect light both up into the ceiling and down into the centre of St Marie’s.

The view of the new offices from the altar.

Hi everyone.

Sad to report that we’ll be unable to host any more Update Tours before the redevelopment work is completed and St Marie’s is once again open to the public. This is due to the nature of the work that will be undertaken on the floor over the upcoming weeks.

Thanks very much to the 22 people who came along to the tours which were held on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. The feedback we received was extremely positive (though a few people agreed with me that the glass light reflectors in the ceiling take some getting used to!)

Ann, Pauline, Kevin, Veronica, Tommy, Ted, Dave and Phil (I hope I’ve remembered everyone’s name correctly)

Not one of us could remember that the corner columns were painted brown (surely they were all just sandstone?) and we all wondered what was going on. However, this photo from April 2009 proves that even the best memory can still get things wrong!

Thanks to everyone who asked if they could come along. Sincere apologies to those who we couldn’t fit in.

Thanks.

Matthew

More photographs taken by the brilliant Dave Clark (John Turner Construction Ltd) of the (almost completed) redevelopment of St Marie’s in Widnes.

The photos were taken between Monday 26th and Friday 30th May.

Note the curvature of the existing church wall.

New drainage for the Lugsdale Road rain water pipes as the originals soak away. Was inadequate therefore the new drainage system will be accepting rain water.

Installation of new drainage channel to accept rain water down pipes from the church roof.

Time for more images from Halton & St Helens VCA’s redevelopment of St Marie’s. The pictures were taken by Dave Clark from John Turner Construction Ltd (taken between Monday 19th and Friday 23rd May).

Relaying the existing floor boards to the central core of the church and then followed by new floor boards to complete it’s entirety.

Extension nearing completion.

The installation of full height structural glass screens now complete.

The roof of the extension is now completed including new lightning protection installation.

Hi everyone.

Some sad news to report: St Marie’s suffered acts of vandalism last night.

I’m afraid that it cannot be cleaned off before today’s Update Tour. Some of the language used in the graffiti is offensive, so I wanted to apologise to today’s guests in advance.

The police have visited the site and CID need to visit before we can begin the clean up operation.

We are increasing security on site to 24 hours a day and we can only hope this isn’t the start of a reoccurring problem.

Along homophobic and racist graffiti, there are threats to burn the building down. Threats which are obviously unacceptable.

I spoke to Cllr Tony McDermott this morning, who had this to say: “What ought to be a joyous celebration of the saving of one of our towns most precious buildings is being undermined by mindless people who don’t understand the loving care that’s gone into the redevelopment of the building. This will be a building that’s of benefit to the whole community.”

Whilst this is the first time such messages have been conveyed by graffiti, it isn’t the first time that we’ve had them communicated to us. Rest assured that any further communication along these lines (whether verbal, e-mail or through social media) will be passed onto the police.

If you have any information about the culprits behind the vandalism, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Kind regards.

Matthew Roberts
(01928) 593 118

The Tuesday Tour has now sold out!

However, due to “popular demand” we will be doing an additional tour the very next night (Wednesday 4th) also at 4pm.

As with the walk around on the previous afternoon, guests will be guided by Dave Clark (Site Manager) for John Turner Construction Ltd.

It’ll be a chance to see what redevelopment work has been completed over the last few months. For example, having been inside St Marie’s last week, I can attest that the removal of the internal scaffolding and repairs to windows have made a huge difference to the feel of the building. I feel extremely excited about the progress we’re making.

To come and see for yourself, book your place on the Tour by e-mailing mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk or call (01928) 593 118.

Places are limited and will distributed on a first come, first served basis.

Thanks.

Matthew

Hi everyone,

The Update Tour of St Marie’s has been rearranged for Tuesday 3rd June at 4pm.

Sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by the rearrangement.

Places remain quite limited and will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. If you’d like to book a spot, please e-mail me via mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk or call (01928) 593 118.

Many thanks.

Matthew Roberts

Hi everyone,

I’m delighted to announce that Halton & St Helens VCA will be hosting a Tour of St Marie’s on Monday 2nd June at 4pm.

Visitors will be guided around the site by Dave Clark (from John Turner Construction Ltd) who will be able to update us on the progress of the redevelopment work and answer any questions guests may have.

Places are quite limited and will be distributed on a first come, first served basis. If you’d like to book a spot, please e-mail me via mroberts@haltonsthelensvca.org.uk or call (01928) 593 118.

Many thanks.

Matthew Roberts

Here are our most recent Pics of the Week, as captured by Dave Clark from John Turner Construction Ltd.

Lower mid roof repairs now complete including new lightening protection.

Dave’s office gets moved to the far side of the car park.

Commencement of breaking up existing pathway in order to install new drainage and paviors.

Existing floor boards being relayed and once used, the remainder will be laid in new boards. Once stained and finished, they will all match.

This is a hydrometer used to measure the moisture within the new concrete slab in the extension. 75% or less does not require any further Damp Proof Membrane. This score of 88% required a liquid DPM prior to laying new floor finishes.