Kirklees Council funds Green Park war memorial restoration project

Situated in the park just off Northgate in Heckmondwike Town Centre, the memorial commemorates soldiers who lost their lives in World War I, World War II and the Korean War.

After being neglected for several years, the RBL are now delighted to announce that the memorial has been restored to its former glory after receiving a full clean and service by Tomlinson Memorials, a highly skilled and trusted stonemason company from Wigan.

Rosemary Hartley, vice chair of the Heckmondwike Royal British Legion branch, said : "I really am over the moon, It's been such a big thing for so many years.

"Originally we got an estimate privately from a company that our chairman at the time knew. We sent this off to Kirklees Council asking for it to be actioned.

“This is when we were made aware of the Memorials Fund within the council, which pays for memorials to be upkept.

"This year we have been fortunate to have been allocated some of the funds from this pot.”

As well as cleaning the memorial with a cold steam, Tomlinson Memorials have also repointed the memorial, repaired the metal ornamentation, painted the railing that surrounds the memorial, re-painted the lettering and placed the Burma Star Association plaque back on the memorial.

Rosemary added: "Originally, we used to have a brass Burma Star plaque.

“However, before I was involved in recent years somebody had the memorial cleaned using a jet wash. Fortunately it didn't damage the stone but it did damage the plaque, which went dark brown.

“We had a donation given to replace it, and I tried every which way but couldn’t get the plaque to stay on the memorial.

"It's nice from my point of view that the person who donated the money will see that it is actually in position where it should be now.

"Thank you to Julian Falconer [Kirklees Council], his team and the stonemasons involved.

"Thank you also to all the volunteers who have helped with the poppy appeal this year.”

In response the the positive feedback from the Heckmondwike RBL branch, Coun Naheed Mather, cabinet member for environment and climate said: “Kirklees Council has the honour of being responsible for the maintenance of 39 of the war memorials within Kirklees and all those memorials are inspected each year.

“It is a role we take seriously and we have a programme of maintenance with four ‘routes’ that cover the memorials.

“Each year three or four memorials on that years ‘route’ are chosen for cleaning and maintenance works by a specialist contractor.

“Sometimes there is a memorial that isn’t on that year’s ‘route’ that needs urgent work, as in the case of the Heckmondwike War Memorial, and we engage specialist contractors to make the necessary repairs.

“We are delighted with the positive feedback from Heckmondwike RBL and will pass this onto our hard working and diligent staff.”

Members of the Heckmondwike RBL branch meet every third Thursday of every month from 7pm at St. James Church on Church Lane, Heckmondwike.To find out how to become a member, email [email protected].