New Friends boss inspects Shrewsbury's Lord Hill statue damage
[gallery] The new chairman of the Friends of Lord Hill's Column has taken a trip to inspect the damage to the town's crumbling statue at first-hand.
Reverend Richard Hayes, resident priest of St Alkmund's Church, has recently been elected as chairman of the new campaign group, taking over from Tim Milsom. He climbed the Column yesterday morning to inspect the statue.
Mr Hayes said: "I was very pleased to see the statue at first-hand. You could see how badly damaged it is. A lot of detail has got lost over time."
He said a public meeting would soon be held to encourage people to sign up as members of the campaign group, with the recruitment drive beginning in the New Year.
The Friends group was formed earlier this year in a bid to pay for funds for a replica statue to be built to replace the monument.
Around £350,000 needs to be found for the creation of a coade stone replica of the existing statue, which is currently covered in scaffolding after pieces of debris began falling from it.
Mr Hayes said he hoped it would not be too long before the replacement is in place.
