THE grandson of the engineer who built Darwen Tower has spoken of his wish to see it repaired to its original glory.

Eighty-two-year-old William Whalley, himself a structural engineer, said he would have liked to fly from his home in America to assist in the dome repair, but had been stopped by ill health.

He said: “The tower is not just a part of my heritage, the entire Whalley family and those descedents of the people that worked on the tower. More importantly, it is a part of all the descedents of Darwen that made it possible to be constructed.

“I am deeply concern, but I am confident that the Darwen Town Council and Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council will see to it that it is properly repaired as soon as possible.

“I am also confident that all the people of Darwen will rise to the occasion and support it.”

Mr Whalley, who was born and brought up in Savannah, Georgia, said he was inspired to be an engineer by looking at a picture of Darwen Tower hanging in his grandfather’s home.

He said: “This inspired my dream to some day go to England, find all my relatives and see the tower.

“Many times I observed my grandfather at his design drafting board, and early in life I knew I wanted to be an engineer.”

Mr Whalley became president of Whalley Construction Company, a family firm set up by Richard Whalley after his emigration to America in 1913.

In 1970, he was responsible for constructing his own octagonal tower - the Harbour Town Lighthouse - the first lighthouse to be built on the east coast of America in 150 years, and one of the most recognised in the country.

He believes that to anchor a fibreglass turret to the existing porous deck of Darwen Tower, engineers may have to consider adding small square pieces of tubing to a steel ring on each side of the turret to increase the stability.

He also advises them to consider using a different material than fibreglass.

In 1947 the original turret on top of the tower was blown off in a gale and was not replaced until 1971 when the tower was crowned once again with a fibreglass dome paid for mainly by public fundraising.

The tower was officially opened on September 24, 1898 to commemorate the diamond jubilee of Queen Victoria.

Richard Whalley died in Georgia on July 23, 1942, aged 78.