Do-it-yourself reward! THE legendary Father Riley, briefly mentioned on this cobwebby page last week, was a really shrewd operator when it came to fulfilling his dream.

This energetic, square-shouldered man of the cloth was the driving force behind the building of the present Lowe House Church, known locally as 'the poor man's cathedral'.

And Ron Honey of Haresfinch looks back with amusement and affection to one of the little ploys adopted by the St Helens priest who was renowned as the scourge of local drunks and back-sliders.

Ron recalls a tale from his father's youth which typified the good priest.

"Father Riley had a wonderful way of persuading people to help him," says Ron. Asking for volunteers to help in excavating the massive footings for the new church, he promised a reward to those prepared to put in as many hours as possible.

"The men smiled when Fr. Riley mentioned a reward," adds Ron. But nevertheless a volunteer labour force was raised from among his cash-strapped parishioners.

And, after much thought, the pioneering priest decided to reveal his intentions which, he explained, would be of benefit both to the men and their families. Any coal found during excavation work could be shared among the spade-wielding labour force - without charge!

It appears that Fr. Riley knew that there was a shallow seam of coal just beneath the site of the landmark church. So, says Ron: "The men carried on with the task, knowing that while remaining hard-up they would at least keep warm that winter."

LOVELY little tale! It appears that Fr. Riley was the stuff that legends are made of (and that he even had a small pet alligator). Can any readers add a few other details about that remarkable priest?

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.