Shrewsbury's Lord Hill prepares for a summer outing
Look who is ready to come out into the open once again.
Lord Hill has been shrouded in scaffolding for months.
But within days he will be unwrapped, allowing him to rule once again over the Shrewsbury skyline.
The first phase of work to restore the 200-year-old iconic column has been completed.
The plan is eventually to replace Lord Hill with a new statue.
But in the meantime he has been patched up to ensure that he can withstand the perils of the English weather.
It is hoped the scaffolding will be removed by next week's anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, at which Lord Hill fought.Workmen will be on site imminently to remove the scaffolding which has encased the 200-year-old Lord Hill's Column opposite Shirehall for months.
A wet and warm winter ensured that temporary repair work to the crumbling stone statue of Lord Hill ran over. But while members of the Friends of Lord Hill's Column are delighted the scaffolding is to come down, they acknowledge the major project to replace the weather-ravaged statue may not not be completed until 2017.
Reverend Richard Hayes, of the Friends group, said: "The remedial works to the statue are now complete and it is hoped that the scaffolding will be removed by June 18, which is the anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo at which Lord Hill fought."
The work that required the scaffolding was phase one of the project. Its removal means phase two can now start and it is hoped work will get under way to replace the existing statue with a new one. But it could take two to three years to complete as funding must be secured and a firm found to undertake the work and to get the necessary planning consents agreed.
Lord Hill's statue is 17ft tall and stands on top of the grade II-listed Column, which stands more than 133ft high.
The column was first fenced off in April 2012 due to falling masonry. Shropshire Council set aside £140,000 for repairs, including £39,500 to hire the scaffolding, which was erected last September for six months. Costs were then renegotiated with a weekly hire week of £550, meaning work came in under budget.
The Friends of Lord Hill's Column was established to help raise the £350,000 necessary to create areplica of the statue.
The group's AGM will take place at Shirehall on June 18, at 7pm.
