A PROMINENT item of street architecture, which had stood as a landmark in Bromsgrove's Strand for 60 years, is back on its original spot after undergoing a £10,000 refurbishment.

In February we reported how former Bromsgrove School pupil Noel Nicholls, now living in Texas, had generously agreed to pay for the horse trough, which had stood at the junction of High Street and Birmingham and Stourbridge Roads, to be repaired and returned. It had been moved to Sanders Park when a new road scheme was mooted in the 1970s.

The trough, with a human drinking fountain and dog bowls, was given to Bromsgrove in memory of Benjamin Hadley Sanders by his daughters, the Misses Lucy and Mary Beatrice, following his death in 1901.

Mr Sanders, whose grandfather founded the town's button factory, was clerk to the town council for 50 years. Mr Nicholls' is the son of the last owner of the family that subsequently acquired the button factory at Sidemoor Mill. With the demise of the factory Mr Nicholls wanted to establish a long-lasting link between his and the Sanders family.

The trough had been badly vandalised whilst in the park and was also showing its age - prompting doubts it could be moved to the Somerset premises of specialists stonemasons Nimbus Conservation for refurbishment.

On Monday the four-and-a-half ton reinforced concrete structure, which it now appears had originally been coated in black granite chippings, was carefully lifted by crane off a lorry and inched into position in front of solicitor Matthew Horton's Strand House premises. A relieved Mr Horton, who has overseen the project from the start, and who is picking up part of the bill, watched the delicate operation.

"I am delighted it is back and looking so splendid," he said.

It will be opened on Saturday, June 23, by local MP Julie Kirkbride, as part of the Court Leet's fair day activities in High Street. She will be helped, we are told, by an appropriate special guest.'