Getting to grips with lime

Lime Day

The Edgar Wood and Middleton Heritage Initiative held another thriving Lime Day recently as part of the Heritage Open Days celebrations.

Lime mortar is the vital substance that holds historic buildings together and this free hands-on training session went down a treat with the 15 people who attended. The event was held at the churchyard wall of St Leonard’s Church in Middleton.

Historic buildings expert Alan Gardner demonstrated how lime is used to repair old walls and buildings and how simple it is to use compared to modern substitutes like cement.

The group, which included trades people, historic building owners and others interested in traditional building skills, then used their new found knowledge to re-point a section of the churchyard wall.

Helping people to learn traditional skills and care about historic buildings is an important part of the Heritage Initiative, which is funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Rochdale Borough Council.