A CRANE will be used on Saturday to lift a centrepiece of a historic Oakworth cemetery back into place. The crane will be placed in Dockroyd Lane, with its arm over the graveyard, to lift the distinctive pink marble obelisk (pictured) onto its base.

Volunteers who have spent many months on the Dockroyd Graveyard Restoration Project will be helped by Tom Blacker of Brandshire Crane Hire. The operation, which is expected to take at least an hour, will be on Saturday September 7 at 9am.

Graveyard owner Andrew Heaton said: “The obelisk weighs about half a ton and the crane is the only way it can be lifted safely into place.”

The obelisk is for the grave of John William Cockshott who was related by marriage to mill owner Sir Isaac Holden.