It has been all go down at St. Mary the Virgin in Shipley in recent weeks both on the Church itself and in the church-yard. With all the wet weather we had over the Autumn one of the grand old oaks backing onto Church close came down within a whisker of the graves below. Shipley Parish council however were quick to recognise the tree was on their land and organised to have it removed. Councillor Payne attended on the morning of the removal, “It was a tricky job, hats off to the tree surgeon in protecting graves right in front of a large part of the oak. No one was quite sure where the weight of the tree was sitting, so it was like playing Jenga, removing a bit at a time, and rebracing so the tree didn’t roll.” Work is still ongoing as well on repairing the main roof of the Church with £100,000 already pledged to the project, but much more to do as more cracked slates reveal themselves during the first phase of renovation.
