Breamish Valley logo linking to Home Page

War Memorial Dedicated

Breamish Valley War Memorial dedicated

On Saturday 27 October 2018 the Breamish Valley War Memorial Project came to its planned conclusion – the dedication of the War Memorial to the 39 servicemen from the Breamish Valley who lost their lives in the two World Wars.

The ceremony, which was conducted by Revd Jane Wood, took place at 2:30pm in the Powburn Community Garden. With well over 100 people attending, and with glorious sunshine (on a day that had seen the first slight snow fall of the Autumn in Powburn village), everything went smoothly.

The ceremony was attended by many who had travelled long distances: from Wiltshire, East Yorkshire, Durham and elsewhere. A number of family descendants were able to attend, including Peter Sisterson and Dennis Sisterson, relatives of Robert Sisterson and William Sisterson. Both Peter and Dennis participated in the ceremony.

Photo of Peter Sisterson at the  Breamish Valley War Memorial dedication
Peter Sisterson who read ‘The Exhortation’
Dennis Sisterson at the  Breamish Valley War Memorial dedication
Dennis Sisterson who read ‘The Kohima Epitaph’

The standards of several regiments were on display, carried by service representatives, many of whom had similarly travelled long distances to show their respect to the fallen of the Breamish Valley. Young people from the Whittingham Baden Powell Scouts also attended in uniform and with their standards.

Photo of service personnel and military flags
Regimental standards and flags

John Carr-Ellison, who has so generously contributed his time and resources to the Project, read aloud the names of the fallen.

John Carr-Ellison at the  Breamish Valley War Memorial dedication
John Carr-Ellison reading the names of the fallen

It was also a privilege to have the artist Gene Healy and his family attend both the ceremony and the tea and refreshments meet up in the Breamish Hall. Gene voluntarily designed the logo displayed at the top of the war memorial. The clean, minimalist design represents the Cheviot Hills and the central flower represents new life – the birth of something new and better from the lessons learned through the loss of our Breamish Valley servicemen.

Photo of artist Gene Healy
Artist Gene Healy
Breamish Valley War Memorial artwork c. Gene Healy
Memorial logo designed by Gene Healy

There are simply far too many people to thank individually for the success of this project. Everyone, from 12-year-old bugler Daniel Bradley who played ‘The Last Post’ so confidently to the Hedgeley WI who provided the refreshments; from all those local residents who dug the hole and laid the foundations for the gatepost memorial stone; the list goes on.

Clearly, however, the Project would never have got underway without the motivation of Robbie Burn. Robbie’s own dedication to the task is creditable and he has initiated a lasting legacy for the fallen of the Breamish Valley.

Photo of Robbie Burn at the Breamish Valley War Memorial dedication
Robbie Burn (Project Lead)

Gallery

You can view more official photos from this historic event via the following Gallery link:

Photo of Breamish Valley War Memorial dedication ceremony with the words 'War Memorial Dedication Gallery'
UK Web Archive logo

The British Library is preserving this site for the future in the UK Web Archive at www.webarchive.org.uk