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The Matheson family have a long and proud associa tion with the Crown of Thorns at Linlithgow’s St Michael’s Parish Church.

Back in 1964, it was Tom Matheson and his son Harry, and their Thomas Matheson Plumbling Company, which completed the work to cover the spire with its gold anodised aluminium covering.

Now, almost 60 years later it is their grandson and son, respectively, Gordon Matheson, who has been employed to complete the work.

Gordon learned his craft when he started working in the family firm, aged 17. In 1992, he founded his own company, Matheson Plumbing Company Ltd, in Falkirk.

Fraser and Gordon Matheson of MPC Limited are keeping the Crown of Thorns repairs in the family.

He now employs 10 roofwork specialists who work in lead and hard metals such as copper and zinc, including his nephew Fraser, who is continuing the family line and will be working on the iconic Linlithgow spire.

Gordon (62) was delighted to secure the contract and continue its Matheson link.

He said: “A couple of years back, I was involved in putting up a platform to find out the spire’s condition. I was interested in the project because of the family connection, with my father and grandfather completing the original gold cladding in 1964.

“It’s an iconic landmark and it’s a one-off – in terms of my working life, something like this will only come along once in a lifetime.

Gordon Matheson, with Brian Lightbody from the church, is following in his dad and grandad’s footsteps.

“We like challenges and doing something different; the weather will be our biggest challenge as we’re coming into winter now and the work is weather dependent.”

Gordon and his team will get to work once the crown’s rotted timber jousts have been repaired.

However, they’ve already been up on the scaffolding to remove the old cladding and hope to start work in the next couple of weeks.

Gordon added: “The weather damage wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be; it was over-engineered in the 1960s which held in good stead and it’s all repairable.

Originally copper, the spire will be returned to its former glory by MPC.

“We’re probably looking at about three months of work fitting the small copper sheet panels to the timber; they’ll be fitted with steel clips and fixings which will be concealed in the laps so that, once it’s finished, all people will see is the copper.

“It should last another 60 years at least, if not longer; maybe then another Matheson might do the work but it certainly won’t be me!”

Falkirk company keeps Linlithgow's Crown of Thorns repairs firmly in the family!