A MAJOR refurbishment project to restore the roof of a rural village hall has been completed.

The work, which finished recently on Salesbury Memorial Hall, cost £45,000 and included insulating the foot and removing the Westmorland green slates before for cleaning.

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The hall, which is in St Peter’s Close, was constructed in 1928, and was built by local residents.

Described as a hub of community life, the hall was kept open during the ten-week project.

The money came from Lancashire Environment Fund, The Duchy of Lancaster Benevolent Fund, the Harold and Alice Bridges Charity and The Houghton Dunn Charitable Trust.

Members of the hall’s charitable trust and local residents all raised money to help pay for the work.

The first grant application was submitted at the start of 2014, after the roof started to leak and become energy inefficient.

The Trustees and Management Committee of Salesbury Memorial Hall have thanked all parties who supported this major project including contractors Brian Cooper Builders Ltd, Randles Roofing of Todmorden, and Finlay Hodge from Community Futures.

Acting hall chairman John Fryer said: “The hall has remained largely intact and untouched, other than for essential maintenance and upkeep but the roof finally required major refurbishment.

“Having lasted almost 90 years it had no insulation and had begun to leak.

“The hall is a unique hub for the community and we are lucky to have it.

“Fortunately it was never exposed to the elements while the work was being undertaken and that meant that we could keep it open and cause as little disruption as possible.

“We hold hundreds of events at the hall every year and this work will mean that it will be warmer for everyone and we will also save a substantial sum on energy bills.

“It’s great that the work was completed within budget and before the 12 weeks that had been set aside for the project.

“Nothing really had been done on the exterior of the hall since it was built so it was about time that something was done.

“There was just no insulation really and that means that we will all feel the benefit of it now.”

Salesbury is first recorded as a chapelry but in 1866, it became a civil parish. The Old English name of the village is “Salebyry”, dating from 1246 AD, and “Salewelle” dating from 1296 AD. This means “burh by Sale Wheel” (burh is an Old English word). Sale Wheel is the name of a pool in the River Ribble where the river winds, contracts and foams over huge rocks and boulders within the channel and means “pool where willows grow”. Wheel comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “weal” meaning a whirlpool.[3] Eventually the village was named Salesbury.