Repointing in Bacup

Bacup is stone from top to bottom — terraces stacked up the sides of the Irwell valley at Stacksteads, Britannia, Weir and around the town centre, all Rossendale gritstone laid in lime — and it is fifteen minutes from our door over the tops. The damage here is nearly always the same: cement pointing put on decades ago, water trapped in the stone, faces blowing off and damp coming through upstairs.

We take the cement out by hand and put lime back, brushed to expose the aggregate and sat just behind the face so the stone can dry. Bacup's weather is Pennine weather; chimneys and west gables are the priority. A lot of the town is conservation area.