Lead Contractors Association presentation was by Mr Rod Bexson, Sales Manager of Associated Lead Mills, the Sponsor for these two awards, who was joined by David Martin on stage, together with Richard Murdoch, whom we was welcomed in celebration of the Award which bears his name.

The Nyphaeum is in the grounds of Oakfield Park in Donegal, which was originally built as a deanery in 1739. Since 1996, owners Sir Gerry ad Lady Heather Robinson have been carefully restoring the house and grounds, returning the house to its original grandeur and planting some 40,000 trees in the surrounding estate
The Nypheaeum required 3½ tonnes of Code 7 lead sheet supplied by Metal Processors of Dublin and involved some very complex detailing with the four sided hipped roof, box gutters, catchpit overflows, porticos and crowning bossed finial.
It was this attention to detail and excellent quality of the overall workmanship which caught the eye of the judging panel for the Murdoch Sponsors Award
The Murdoch Award competition is open to all members using either rolled lead sheet to BSEN12588 or traditional sand cast sheet. There is a strong vetting procedure to produce a short list of projects all of whom then undergo roof top inspections.

Northwest Lead of Cheshire, for their project at Dewsbury Town Hall.
Managing Director Steve Hempstock was present to receive the 2010 Murdoch Award from Richard Murdoch
Dewsbury Town Hall was a classic case of leadwork being wrongly specified and badly installed, when the roof was refurbished in 1990 and it started to fail almost from day 1.
When Northwest Lead were called in last year to look at the problems of the failing roof, they found many examples of bad design throughout, including panels installed in one piece, 6 metres long by one metre wide, that, apart from being way over size, were so badly fixed that their natural thermal movement was severely restricted.
Northwest Lead were required to not only correct all these faults and redesign the installation to comply with current recommended practice, but also at the same time show no discernable difference to the outward appearance of the lead.
The crowning glory was the cladding to the dome of the clock tower, requiring twelve separate bands of lead to be laid between the lower concave and the cupola balustrade
In all some 45 tonnes of lead sheet in Codes 6.7 & 8 were supplied by Calder Industrial Materials for the project, which included not only the clock tower and turrets, but also curved and straight parapet gutters, parapet walls and cornices around the contours of the building as well as curved dormers and pediments.
The finished article is testimony to the breadth of knowledge, skill and dedication of Northwest’s team of craftsmen, led by Paul Hempstock, Rick Walker and Andy
Challinor.

The winners show traditional craftsmanship at its very highest level – congratulations to the Lead Contractors Association and Associated Lead Mills for their support of the event.