Today being Trafalgar Day, and with the Russian Fleet being escorted through the English Channel, it seemed appropriate to show the stone repair to the head of Admiral Lord Nelson on the top of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square.
 
In 2006 David Ball Ltd repaired the lightning damage to the left arm and forehead of the statue of Nelson which was originally carved from Craigleith sandstone by the sculptor E. H. Baily in 1843. The column shaft was made from Dartmoor granite, and the ensemble was designed by William Railton and erected at a cost of £47,500.
 
New Craigleith stone for the repairs was not available as the old Craigleith quarry had closed, but luckily some Craigleith stone from a window cill had been reclaimed by Watson Stonecraft from the restoration of the Edwardian Donaldson's School for the Deaf in Edinburgh which kindly donated to its stone to the cause.
 
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone, who commissioned the restoration, said at the time: "Using the original stone has allowed the restorers to take an authentic approach to the conservation of a monument built 163 years ago. It will ensure that this unique monument can be enjoyed by Londoners and visitors to the capital for many years to come."
 
Nelson's Column has been cleaned several times, and restored in 1968 and 1986 using a mixture of mortar and cement, and again by David Ball Ltd in 2006 when it cost £420,000 and the figure of Nelson was repaired as carefully as if it were a statue at ground level using the reclaimed Craigleith stone. In 1919 W Larkin fitted lead cramps to the broken base of the figure of Nelson which are still doing good service, although they appear to have unnecessarily been painted gloss black.
 
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The photo shows the author's cousin Yvonne Loftus of Martin Ashley Architects alongside the finished repairs