Tag: great war

#365daysofbiking Not forgotten:

December 6th – In an otherwise unremarkable, workaday wall  on a main road in Place, Walsall, one of the UK’s many hundreds of industrial memorials to the lost employees in the Great War.

The fourteen lost souls listed on the memorial worked for the Cyclops Foundry which was near where the plaque is now, and has long since passed into history – but the original memorial was saved and restored by the NHS, who operate Walsall Manor Hospital, opposite, not once, but twice: They refurbished the memorial in 1989, and replaced it totally in 2002.

I’m glad it survived and still stands today, bearing witness to those lives lost, and it’s good to see that 100 years on, people still place crosses here to remember them.

#365daysofbiking Not forgotten:

October 28th – I was charmed and humbled passing through Hednesford on a much needed restorative ride to Cannock Chase to note the main square has been decorated with knitted and other hand made poppies and material for Remembrance. 

It’s really very impressive, and sobering. It’s beautiful to see so many displays of Remembrance in towns and villages at the moment, particularly on the centennial anniversary of the end of the Great War.

My thanks and compliments to those who took time out to make and arrange this display. Real community in action.

October 8th – Up in the cinematic, wide open landscape of Brocton Field, there’s a historical, Great War curiosity that serves as a lovely memorial and good map explorer exercise for kids and newcomers to this fine place – Freda’s Grave.

The grave, off a minor footpath high above the Sherbrook Valley, is the resting place of the mascot of the New Zealand Rifles who were stationed here as the awful conflict came to a close. The harlequin Great Dane was very much loved, and her memorial has been periodically renewed and restored. 

It’s good to see so many people pay tribute, a testament to the UK (and New Zealand’s, of course) love affair with our best friends.

You can find out more about Freda here. 

I descended into the valley, and across a gradually darkened Chase lifted by the quality of the day, the ride and finally, fresh air and the joy of getting back to somewhere I love and hadn’t been for ages.

March 20th – It’s been 5 years since I last visited Freda’s Grave on Cannock Chase. It’s up near Brockton Field, and is a little historical curiosity. The resting place of a beloved Canadian military mascot, Freda the harlequin Great Dane (not a dalmatian as often claimed) who was stationed with her regiment here on the military camp that existed during the Great War.

It’s not in an immediately obvious place, and finding it on the heath high above the Sherbrooke Valley is a rite of passage for many a young Cannock Chase rookie.

Then you turn around, and that wide open landscape stretched to the distance, just waiting to be explored. Fantastic stuff.

You can read about Freda’s Grave here.

November 9th – Since it’s Remembrance, I thought I’d feature this little-noticed war memorial, which I pass often. It sits in an anonymous, unremarkable wall near shops and industrial units on the Pleck Road in Walsall, just opposite the Manor Hospital.

I know nothing at all about the Cyclops Iron Works, and must check it out, but it’s nice the memorial was restored and survived, unlike many other industrial plaques which were lost as factories closed.

I wonder how many pass this every day, and not realise what it is?

June 21st – I think the poppies growing so beautifully on the traffic island  in Clayhanger must have been planted, possibly as part of the Great War commemorations this year. It’s fair to say that whether by accident or design, they’re really beautiful and a lovely display.

If you’re passing, do take a look, it’s magical.

December 7th – The war memorial in Darlaston is also one of the best locally. Far more personal and intimate than that of Walsall, for me the only one to challenge it for beauty and presence is Wednesbury. I love the gardens and spaces to sit around it; the sympathetic, sharply observed Great War Soldier modelled on top. I love the way if fits beautifully into it’s urban environment, and the fact that there’s a playground and nursery nearby. I think those remembered here would appreciate the noises and joyful hubbub of the children playing nearby.