Hair raising experience for town hall porter

A town hall porter undertook a sponsored leg wax to raise money for the restoration of the roof panels in The Great Hall.

Simon Ross suffered in the name of art to help raise cash for the project, which has been selected as one of the mayor’s charities this year.

The panels once depicted stunning images of kings and queens and royal crests, but the pictures have now disappeared under layers of varnish.

Expert conservationist Liz Hirst, whose company has worked on such illustrious buildings as York Minster and Windsor Castle, has examined the ceiling and full restoration is expected to cost around £1,000 per panel.

Simon, who was waxed by staff from the Revive me Beauty and Nails Salon and has worked at the Town Hall for eight years, said: ”It’s a real honour to be able to work in a building as spectacular as this every day, so I’m obviously keen to help to preserve it. Every penny will help the cause and I thought this was a pretty unusual way of raising the money.”

The Mayor, Councillor James Gartside, said: “The Town Hall is a really important building and few people are in a better position to appreciate its beauty than the staff who come and work to keep it in top condition day in, day out. I’m really impressed with Simon’s dedication to the Town Hall and I think his efforts today would definitely be classed as going above and beyond the call of duty!”

To restoration of the roof will involve the delicate removal of the many layers of varnish without damaging the images beneath. The Mayor is hoping to raise enough during his year in office to restore three panels, but if more money is raised, more panels can be restored.

Anyone can donate to the appeal at the Town Hall reception or by emailing town hall manager Dorothy Johnstone.

Dorothy said: “We’re all proud of the Town Hall and everyone can make a difference. If we can raise enough money to get this project off the ground, we will be inviting members of the public to come and watch Liz at work and have a tour of the Town hall for a small donation. We will also be inviting school groups for lessons so that our young people can learn all about the history of this fantastic borough that they are growing up in.”

The Mayor’s other charities include Springhill Hospice, Rochdale Welfare for the Blind Society and Parkinsons UK.