THE race is on to get a new roof onto a Forest Church to stop the leaks which were first spotted as work was finishing on refurbishing the bells.

The prospect of another major round of works at St Peter’s in Newnham – just as the £160,000 project on the bells was ending – was “daunting” said former churchwarden Jane Curtis, who is managing the spire programme.

Although the work was urgent, the church did not want to approach villagers again after they had been so generous over the bells project.

They approached the Enovert Community Trust (ECT) with just seven days to the deadline with a request to cover the £50,000 cost of replacing thousands of tile-like wood shingles to make the spire watertight.

Jane Curtis said: “We carried out emergency repairs last autumn in the hope that the old roof might last a few more years.

“But rain was still getting in and we realised we would need to replace the whole roof.

“We went to tender in the spring and discovered it would cost £50,000.

“Asking the village to put their hands in their pockets again seemed unreasonable, so we started looking for charities that might fund the project.

“We approached the Enovert Community Trust, formerly the Cory Environmental Trust,

It agreed to consider our request but told us that because of its next deadline we had just seven days to put in our application.

“Thankfully, Andy Vivian, who did most of our grant applications for the bells’ restoration, agreed to help work on this and we met the deadline.

“In late September, to our delight, ECT offered us its maximum grant of £50,000.”

Three weeks into the project and all the old shingles have been removed and the cross – on top of the spire – which is about 90 feet above the ground – has been restored and repainted.

The laborious work of re-shingling the roof is being carried out by Dawson’s steeplejacks of Weston-super-Mare.

They will have to nail in 5,000 top grade western red cedar shingles which are each 40cm (16 inches) long by between 11cm and 21cm (four and eight inches) wide.

The honour of replacing the first shingle went to project manager Jane Curtis

It is hoped to have the work completed by the spring and the new roof should keep the rain out until at least 2070.

“It was definitely time for a new roof”, said company boss, Ben Dawson.

“We could poke a finger through many of the shingles. Once they start to get like that they are no longer waterproof.”

Mr Dawson is one of a team of five who have been working on the spire which is about 30ft tall.

He said: “We are very dependent on the weather – light rain doesn’t stop us, but if the wind gets up there comes a point where working on ropes and ladders is not safe.

“So far we’ve been lucky as the worst of the weather has been at weekends and overnight.”

The steeplejacks found some live woodworm in the backing boards and so, as a precaution, all the timber is being treated for worm, both outside and inside the steeple.

“Fortunately, it has not reached a condition where the wood needs replacing,” said Mr Dawson.

As the old shingles have come off, the steeplejacks have laid a membrane of green waterproof felt which has made the roof watertight.

Steeple keeper, Steve Bowles, says that he has already noticed the difference.

“For the last year we have been draping towels in strategic spots around the bell chamber to catch the drips but since the waterproof membrane has gone on we’ve already noticed that the towels remain dry.”

ECT Secretary Angela Haymonds said: “I was so pleased that Andy was able to turn this application around so quickly and that the Trust was able to fund these urgent works to preserve this historic building.

“In spite of the challenging conditions, the project is being delivered with great efficiency and it’s heartening to think that the building will be watertight for the coming winter and for many years to come.”

The church has been on its current site for more than 600 years but it had to be rebuilt in 1881 following a disastrous fire.