Clocking On With Lattimers At Timeless Restoration Job

The former Co-op store in Dalston near Carlisle is being transformed into two new retail units and three luxury self-contained apartments by Lattimer Properties.

It is a major task – and one that has presented several unusual challenges for our team working at the landmark building which has dominated The Square in the heart of the village since 1869.

Among them is the removal and restoration of the historic public clock which has looked down from the top of the old three-storey Co-op building for as long as anyone can remember.

The large clock, measuring nearly three feet wide, was manufactured by Wheatley of Carlisle and has been carefully taken down so it can be spruced up and returned to its original home as part of our major renovation project.

“One of the first things we did was take down the clock from the highest window arch, overlooking The Square,” said Shaun Forrester, our site foreman.

“A lot of people in the village have been wondering what’s happened to the clock. They want to see it back in working order, as I don’t think it had worked for a couple of years since this site closed.

“Well, the good news is that it’s only gone away for an overhaul in Carlisle and that it will return in all its glory when we complete the work, which will be between March and May 2015,” added Shaun.

The ground floor premises will be available to let as a restaurant/takeaway and as a separate shop, while the three two-bedroom apartments overlooking The Square will take up the rest of the 145-year-old corner building.

Dalston’s Co-op store left its old base in 2012 and relocated to a new building across the road, built and owned by Lattimer Properties, which also contains three apartments.
Date added – 26th September, 2014