THE mystery of the Provvy propellers thickens.

It appears that the final destination of the magnificent, highly-polished wooden aeroplane props from the 1914-18 war is a complete mystery.

They adorned the entrance corridors of the much-lamented Providence Hospital up to its closure and demolition more than a dozen years ago.

And not even my old pal Joe Hignett, who supervised the sale of its contents, can satisfy the curiosity of a number of readers who have asked what became of the large specimen propeller and the seat ingeniously created from others like it.

Joe tells me that the propeller, familiar to generations of Providence Hospital visitors, had been destined for St Xavier's Convent at Mossley.

But when he visited there recently he discovered that it had vanished from the conservatory where it was supposed to be on display.

The Sister he was visiting there could not say what had become of it.

However, another Providence stalwart, Joe Barry of The Grove, Windle, suspects that the propellers ended up with a local dealer/collector.

And yet if anyone could lay a claim to those interesting relics, it must be Joe himself, as it was a member of the family, his uncle Bob Jones, who first acquired them.

Bob died in 1952 at the age of 62 and before they were passed on to the Provvy, those propellers used to adorn the old Sacred Heart Catholic Club.

IF anyone could say where they are now, then the two Joes, a host of readers and myself would be very interested to know.

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