Ex-servicemen stand firm
Now, residents and visitors can spend a quiet moment remembering those who were lost to war.
What was a bleak and murky corner after dark is now a floodlit garden of remembrance. The white marble war cenotaph and a glossy black granite memorial wall cost up to £20,000.
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Hide Ad“There are already names on the cenotaph,” said 75-year-old Mearns resident and war veteran Jim Neary. “But we wanted the memorial space to be a tribute to all who fought or died in all wars. So, the wall will simply have an all-encompassing tribute statement.
“That’s a hard one because we have to get the wording exactly right; a statement that will stand the test of times past and future.”
When the idea was mooted, it was agreed that the original cenotaph would be dismantled and re-erected at the cross.
That task was made more difficult by it being hidden by grass and weeds, and surrounded by a railing and locked gates.
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Hide Ad“I remember us marching information down to the cenotaph at the primary and finding the gate locked”, said Jim, a former flight lieutenant in the RAF.
“We ended up having to clamber over the fence so that we could lay the wreath. I declared then and there that would never happen again.”