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Finger points at copper robbers

Dave Appleton
8/ 3/2008

MANY Rochdale homes and businesses have been victims of lead thefts recently as thieves have been trying to cash in on the currently high price for the metal.

But in 1971, copper was the main target for thieves who literally went to the top in their search for the precious commodity.

Saturday morning shoppers in Rochdale town centre in March of that year were puzzled as to why the Town Hall clock was missing one of its fingers.

The answer was quite simple.

Thieves with a head for heights had climbed the 190ft tower and made off with the minute finger from the clock.

But their task had been made a lot easier for scaffolding had recently been put in place so that essential maintenance work could be done.

Nevertheless they still had to take great care getting the finger back to the ground and into their getaway van for it was 5ft long and weighed about 56lbs.

Town Hall porter Jonathan Brierley had raised the alarm and said he had noticed on his way to work that the clock had stopped.

As he told the Observer at the time: "I moaned a bit about that as I knew would have an extra job on my hands.

"While I was seeing about correcting the time a workman came down from the scaffolding and told me that the minute hand had been broken off the clock."

One of the first civic officials to be told about the audacious theft was the mayor, Major J F Fox, who told the Observer later: "I can’t imagine who would have the courage to go up there.

"It can only be someone who is used to scaling great heights and knew the hand was made of copper."