A LOCAL playwright is bringing a forgotten hero back to life.

Blind Jack Metcalfe – a northern legend who led a colourful life as a musician, horse trader, smuggler and soldier before becoming the first professional road builder during the Industrial Revolution – would have been 300 years old this year.

To mark the anniversary, Eddie Lawler has written a play about him in collaboration with Shipley Little Theatre, a new drama group based in the Kirkgate Community Centre.

The show will be staged as part of Saltaire Festival before a short tour of Yorkshire in September.

Mr Lawler, known as the Bard of Saltaire, said: “It’s an amazing story of an amazing man, and it’s a delight and an honour to be able to join in the celebrations in the year of the old boy’s 300th birthday.”

More details of Making Light are available on the Saltaire Festival website at saltairefestival.co.uk. Tickets are £8.