READER Brian Pingriff, of Worcester, is the winner of the Malvern Convent of the Holy Name Memories competition.

The competition was run in association with conservation specialists Broadway Heritage, which has recently converted the Grade Two listed building off Ranelagh Road into new homes.

Spokesman Nigel Heath said: "We asked readers for personal recollections of the convent which was established in Ranelagh Road in 1887 and was home to 250 nuns in its heyday before finally closing in 1989.

Mr Pingriff's association with the convent began when as a fifteen-year-old he was an apprentice with a central heating company called in to install a new solid fuel central heating boiler.

“During the 1950’s the nuns took in young expectant mothers and cared for them when their babies were born and because of this they were very selective over who they would allow to work there,” he recalled

“So, after installing the boiler they would only allow myself and the person I was apprenticed with to do maintenance work. I must have had an angelic face at the time!”

He told how during the summer months they did outside maintenance work, including checking for leaks on the lead sheeted roof, together with internal repairs in the bathrooms and kitchens and to the hand pumps which drew water from underground wells

Now Mr Pingriff is being invited to be a VIP guest at a reception to officially open the development, which also includes the building of fourteen new homes

He is asked asked to contact memories contest co-ordinator Nigel Heath on 07721 001990.