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.

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.

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

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.

Gallery

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