MUCH interest has heen aroused by the restoration of the home of
the most famous founder member of the Suffragette movement, Emmeline
Pankhurst, as a memorial to the birthplace of the struggle by women to win
the right to vote. The Pankhurst Centre, consisting of two semi-detached Georgian houses in Nelson Street, Manchester, has been set up as a permanent tribute to the founder members of the 'Women's Social and Political Union'. It was at 62 Nelson St that the first women's movement meeting was held.
In 1983 the buildings, quite a rare sight in Manchester where Victorian architecture is much more in evidence, were saved from demolition. An appeal then successfully raised funds to rescue the houses.
Gun-Point, whose efficient method of repointing brickwork has revolutionised a previously unpopular and time consuming job, was called into work on the listed building. Typical of the period, the joints in the building's brickwork were , very tight, measuring 5mm at the maximum. With Gun-Point's range of powered tools, the Manchester-based team was able carefully to rake out the joints to a depth of 15mm, much deeper than
would have been possible by hand. Then Grade IV 1:2:9 mortar was injected into the joints; matching as closely as possible the original lime mortar. The original flush finish of the facade has also been retailed with the use of a shallow curved recess strike, in order to retain a slightly weathered look.
Gun-Point's major advantage is the high standard of work that is achieved; consistency and cleanliness, as well as a careful approach, are obvious key factors in this mechanised repointing system. Skilled operators use the patented mortar pumps and guns to inject mortar into the furthest recesses of the joint filling it from the back forwards; thus protecting against damp and decay.