Restored Memorial Stone
Following the recent interest in the Centenary of the Great War we have been recording local War Memorials. The Whitefield War Memorial Committee set out to raise £1000 to build a War memorial for the town. In fact they raised over £2000 and spent the remainder on a “secondary memorial scheme.”
The secondary scheme involved buying the land off Hamilton Road between Bury New Road and Higher Lane. They bought it from the Earl of Derby ( Lord of the Manor). Lord Derby stipulated that Stand Cricket Club which occupied part of the ground should be allowed to remain on a £10 lease for 999 years.
The Land was handed over to Whitefield Urban District Council in 1921. They built tennis courts and parkland on it.
A stone ( above) was put up at the corner of Hamilton Road and Bury New Road commemorating this.
The stone has fallen into a state of disrepair with dirt covering it, some letters missing and in need of re-leading.
The Heritage Society obtained an estimate of the work to be done from Bury’s leading stonemasons ( Rawsons)and a grant from the Community Fund of Bury Council (backed by Crs. Matthews and Mallon).
The restoration is now complete and the stone looks as good as new in time for
Remembrance Day.
As I get older, I feel myself drawn to knowing more about Whitefield, Besses and Prestwich, having been born and brought up there until the age of 18. (I left the area in 1964, on joining HM Forces).
I have many happy (faded) memories, as I am sure many on here have.
I am determined that in 2015, I will search out more information on past relatives and areas of the district that I have always had a fond regard of.
Why do many things get neglected and fall into disrepair? Is it something to do with our local councils being amalgamated and controlled from Bury? Look at the way St Mary’s Flower Park Prestwich went and Whitefield Town Hall. I read in the papers in the USA that Bury has 1 garbage collection every 3 weeks when over here we have 2 per week!