Keeping A Roof Over Our Heads

A little while ago, some of the more intrepid members of the congregation climbed the 20ft ladder in the company of the architect to see progress on the south side of the roof. The process so far is to strip off the old lead and then melt it down, roll it out flat (by pouring the molten lead onto a bed of sand so that it is completely flat and smooth) and the re-applying it to the roof. Simples! Just factor in the weight of the lead (17lbs per square foot or 71Kgs per roll) which has to be hauled up by a hoist and there you are. The purpose of the lead is to weather-proof the finished roof, so each sheet has to be overlapped by 3ft. This has been happening to church roofs across the country since the earliest church building and hasnt changed much in all that time; indeed the Romans perfected the method of making water pipes out of lead (another of the amazing things the Romans did for us!). But why lead? It's extremely soft and easy to work into any shapes required and has a v...

The Singapore memorial at Flower Festival time One of the (many) important roles for the Church in Wisbech is that of being the focus for remembrance for loved ones. St Peter & St. Paul's Church holds a very special memorial to the Far East Prisoners of War; a unique and poignant tribute to those held captive in the infamous prison camps of Singapore. Think Tenko and the Bridge over the River Kwai. The memorial was commissioned by a group of Wisbech ex-PoWs who regularly met in The Locomotive pub on Lynn Rd. who were members of the Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Suffolk regiments that served and suffered in the Far East.  They were known as The Singapore Club. The Japanese takeover of Singapore was described by Churchill as " the worst defeat in British Military History". Memories of local people caught up in that dark period can be found on: https://www.captivememories.org.uk/the-far-eastern-prisoners-of-war/your-fepow-history. A friend's great uncle was a marine e...