Lest we forget: Castleton receives war memorial

Date published: 11 June 2018

Castleton is set to remember the fallen with a memorial for those who died during the First and Second World Wars.

The village did not have any memorial, but with the centenary of the end of the Great War this year, Councillor Billy Sheerin and the Rochdale In Bloom team endeavoured to put this right.

Work began on Thursday (7 June), with volunteers to install the memorial as soon as they were able to.

Councillor Sheerin said: “I am absolutely delighted as Castleton has never had a memorial for the fallen before. Castleton has many years of history and many of our young men fought in the wars, including my grandfather, who I was named after. He was killed in the First World War.

“We had commemorative boards in St Martin’s Church, but after the storm this year, we were left with the perfect position to install the memorial.”

The memorial has been placed on the centre of the village green by volunteers, replacing a large tree which was uprooted during the ‘Beast from the East’ storm earlier this year.

Chris Ashton, from Special Branch Tree Services, ground the tree stump out before Byron Ratcliffe, BR Excavations, dug the area out for a concrete base, supplied by Peter Cordwell from Creamy Crete. The large stone itself was donated by Paul Rogers from Marshalls, delivered an hour after it was chosen by Councillor Sheerin.

The stone was cleaned by David from Hydro-Dynamix, and has been bedded in with extra concrete and soil for planting.

The stone will be inscribed free of charge by J Child & Son and surrounded by flowers.

Councillor Sheerin added: “Paul Ellison [of Rochdale in Bloom] is amazing, he gets things done.

"We were given full permission by the council to go ahead and I have never known people work together so well before.

"The rock chosen stood up exactly how we wanted it and has been installed on a plinth.

“It was tremendous action by all concerned, and we hope to have it fully in place by 4 July.”

Paul Ellison said: "I've enjoyed doing this project with Billy and everyone involved.

"This shows how Rochdale In Bloom is going from strength to strength."

Paul Rogers, from Marshalls, said: "This project has been a lot of fun.

"Both Billy and Paul called up to our Scout Moor Quarry and personally hand selected a large rockery piece.

"We pulled the large piece out of the pile and organised delivery to site the same afternoon.

"It's great when you have an idea that you can then follow through to becoming a reality - especially for a great cause such as this."

When complete, the stone will be blessed and dedicated to Castleton’s fallen.

Castleton receives war memorial stone