THE former Head of Art at the old Leigh Girls' Grammar School, has been commissioned to carve a contemporary wooden font as a Millennium project for Atherton.

Glenys Latham, better remembered by former pupils as Miss Eatock, went to The Secondary Art School in Bolton when she was 13, the College of Art and then went on to do a degree in sculpture and life drawing.

Now retired from teaching, Glenys is a full-time self-employed artist.

She said: "Sculpting has been a life-long obsession since I was 13. But I don't normally work to commission, I like to do my own thing."

She was contacted by Rev Peter Hughes of Chowbent Unitarian Chapel, Atherton, with a view to discussing the possibility of her making a font for them. The chapel committee felt that all the restoration work done so far on the building has been looking back in time, to the period when the 350-year-old chapel was built. They wanted to celebrate the new Millennium with a project that would put their own mark upon the building, and the idea of a new font was born.

Glenys explained: "Once I realised that they were very open-minded and thinking of a contemporary piece of sculpture, I produced some ideas based on my existing sculptures. They were quite happy to give me that freedom. I'm very excited about it, because they've given me a degree of movement.

"Once I start carving a piece of wood it's like a conversation, and I might come across something in the wood that wants to take the conversation in a slightly different direction."

Coincidentally Glenys has since discovered that her grandfather, Samuel Croft was a member of the Unitarian Chapel in Atherton. His four daughters were also baptised there, one of which was Glenys's mum. Most of the tools she will use to carve the new font with are stamped with the name T Croft. That was the name of the company, Thomas Croft and Sons, which was founded by her great-grandfather and grandfather in Kay Street, Atherton. They were builders and carpenters and they built a lot of cotton mills and some of the houses on Newbrook Road, Atherton. Reclaimed pitch pine beams, from a Dutch barn, will be used to create the font. In the top there will be a carved hollow to house a cast bronze bowl for the water.

When all the nails have been removed from the beams Glenys, and her husband Bob, will cut them into size with a chain saw. From then on only hand tools will be used.

Work has just started on the project and Glenys hopes to have it finished by the end of November, so that it can be dedicated before Christmas.

Glenys Latham works from a studio at her home in Westhoughton.