We all met outside Rochdale Town Hall which is an impressive building constructed in 1873.   The inside was equally impressive.   It had a look of a Siena church with stripes of red and white, large granite pillars, and a marvellous tiled floor.   The building costs had over run the budget by 6 times and the recent repairs had cost more than estimated.  We were shown exactly where the money had run out originally and currently.  We, of course,  were more interested in the carvings

The Lion rampant was carved all over the place but there were dragons too, but less of them now as some had been stolen.

There were lots of heads acting as corbels for the arches over doors , and many as this one had lost part of the nose

The carved furniture was marvellous.

In what had been built as the Music room , now the Mayor’s parlour there were carvings of musicians

We all enjoyed the tour of the building and would recommend everyone to book themselves on a tour.