Full circle for Harry, 98, as last brick is laid at new Telford school

"I've never seen anything like this in my 98 years. Amazing! Amazing!" said Harry as the crowd assembled for his big moment at Telford Priory School at Oakengates.

Protected from the driving rain by umbrellas, he proceeded to lay a corner stone of a low wall around the edge of the outdoor seating area.

"Just a minute," he said as he made sure things were just right, before settling the stone in position.

And that was that, a remarkable completion of the circle, for 14-year-old Harry, a builders' tea boy and errand boy, was given the privilege in 1931 as the nipper on the job of laying the first brick of Wrockwardine Wood School, in New Road, Oakengates, which closed earlier this month and is being superseded by the new school.

Shepherd Construction, which has now completed the building and is handing it over next week, presented Harry with an engraved trowel.

"It's wonderful – thank you very much," Harry said from his wheelchair.

And he was also given a cake in the shape of a brick to take back to Cartlidge House in Oakengates, the home where he now lives.

Three generations of Harry's family were there for the special event, including his step great-grandson James Williams, 11, who is starting at the new school in September.

Harry's story of how he had laid the first brick of Wrockwardine Wood School while working as a tea boy with Treasure's builders of Shrewsbury was well known in the family, and they joked about how he could lay the first brick of the new school as well.

His tale came to light in a Shropshire Star feature after the school appealed for memories in its countdown to closure.

Shepherd Construction and Telford & Wrekin Council latched on to the idea and, while it was too late by then for him to lay the first brick, he was offered the chance to lay the last one.

After the ceremony and presentations, grandson Steve said: "It's amazing. I was welling up more than he was."

As it happens Harry's bricklaying back in 1931 was something of a one-off, and he was never a bricklayer.

"He has never done anything DIY since. My mum used to do all that," said son Andy.

Harry worked for over 40 years at Maddock's foundry in Oakengates.

Andy added: "It's been excellent. I can't believe this has all happened.

"We used to joke that it would be nice if he could lay the first brick or the last brick of the new school, but I never thought for one minute that it would develop into this.

"What they have laid on for him is amazing."

Shepherd Construction's project manager Stephen Wilkes reflected that Harry had been the youngest person on the job when he laid the first brick.

"It was maybe too late to give him the opportunity to lay the first brick, but we've given him the opportunity to lay the last brick at the age of 98, and he is the oldest person on site."

Meanwhile the cake gift is something of a dilemma.

Andy said: "It's going to be the hardest part. It's going to be a shame to cut it, but you can't keep a cake forever."

As for Wrockwardine Wood School, that faces demolition. As does the nearby Sutherland School which the school will merge with when it opens as Telford Priory School in September.

But Harry won't be getting his original brick back, and nobody knows which one it is in any event.