THE Lady Chapel at Hereford Cathedral is to be stripped of most of its scaffolding in time for the Three Choirs Festival.

The walls of the east face have been clad in unsightly steelwork for nearly seven years, in a £1.2 million restoration project.

Removing the scaffolding will give the thousands of visitors expected at next week's festival the chance to see some of the exceptional work that has already been carried out.

Among the stones that will now come in to view will be the corbel of former organist and festival director, Dr Roy Massey, that caught many peoples' imagination at the festival in 2000.

Another attraction, specially for Americans, will be the two stone eagles sponsored by their countrywoman Dr Betty Breyer to mark her love for city and cathedral.

"We are so pleased we are finally being able to show off the immense work that has gone on since the last festival when almost the entire east end was shrouded in scaffolding and tarpaulins.

"Many who attend the festival have helped to fund this work and we are pleased that, although not completely finished, they will be able to enjoy the efforts of our superb team of stonemasons,'' said Glyn Morgan, secretary of Hereford Cathedral Perpetual Trust.

To help promote the high level of craftsmanship the cathedral's stonemasons Capps & Capps have agreed to keep the stonemasons yard open for the festival rather than closing it for the firm's annual holiday.

Wonderful

"We hope this will give the many festival visitors something else for them to see and help them understand the work of preserving this ancient building.

"Wonderful music-making goes on in the cathedral during the week and hopefully the presence of stone masons will help people understand the demands of keeping a home for our outstanding choir,'' said Mr Morgan.

The Lady Chapel will not be totally free of scaffolding, enough will be left for the final work to the lower string courses and crypt windows to be completed.