The weathercock has been put back on the spire of St Mary's Church in Ross, a month and a half after it was taken down for a major overhaul.

Work on it was completed in early November, but the gloriously gleaming cockerel then spent weeks in the church boiler house, waiting for a lift to its perch. It wasn't until Thursday December 10th, a day of sunshine and clear blue sky, that conditions were suitable for steeplejack and restorer Bill Neath to make the ascent.

The overhaul was carried out by Bill at his workshop in Birmingham, and took several days.

It began with a thorough clean and the repair of a crack in the hollow copper body, and concluded with the application of a double coat of gold leaf that gives the weathercock its new dazzle in sunlight.

It took less than 15 minutes for Bill to climb to the tip of the spire – and it will be at least 25 or 30 years before the bird needs another makeover.

For details of the other restoration work at St Mary's, see page 6.