The Gurn was contacted about the state of the War Memorial by a concerned gurnite who sent us a picture of a fine but inappropriate crop of weeds. Regular readers will remember that we previously highlighted the state of the memorial last year. Bearing this in mind the Gurn sought the latest news from the Legion’s Ian MacGillivray. Ian told the Gurn that Highland Council have budgeted for essential maintenance on the War Memorial this year and once permission is granted from Historic Scotland then work can commence. This observer is sure that gurnites will welcome this news. Worries persist however, over the general state of the area and the grass cutting regime. Surely this is one area where there should be care and attention over and above the normal levels. It is of course still too early to plant annuals but could not a clean-out of a healthy crop of spring weeds have been carried out by now? The lawn area looks in need of a good cut too. This is one area that we must not neglect regardless of cutbacks.UPDATE: 20/04 The weeds have gone - sorted this morning by Highland Council
13 comments:
The Nairn War Memorial should be maintained to a certain level of standard all year round. It is of listed historical interest that it should be. I cannot understand why Nairns War Memorial falls to this lower standard. As was stated last year if you go to any other Town or City and you look at theres and compare ours i think we should be ashamed of ourselves.Heres hoping this matter gets resolved soon.
Apart from anything else this is a public open space in Nairn. What impression does it give at the moment looking overgrown and neglected?
Could some of the members of The Royal British Legion {Nairn Branch}not take it in turn say every fortnight go & do a tidy up at The War Memorial & instead of passing the buck to the council which as always a waste of time, just take the matter in hand & do the job themselves
Why should they? We pay council tax for the like of the War Memorial to be kept in a decent state.
It's a bit too important to let the Council get out of that one.
auld sojer sounds as if he is a agent for camerons big society!
Well spoken Graisg. Iam going to have a word with a friend of mine that is involved of Keeping Nairn Colourfull and see if they can possibly give us a hand on this matter to quicken the tidy up of the War Memorial and get some of the Legion Members as well.If the Council will give us the plants and weed killer and pressure wash the slabs for us then it wouldnt be a problem for them to maintain it every week or fornight. Lets just hope we can all muck in together rather than whinge about it and get the job done.
So how long do we let the weeds grow Craisg? I would have thought
that out of respect for those who gave up their lives fighting for their country that maybe some persons would be ashamed that The War Memorial should have got into the state in the first place...
Keep us posted on any clean-up. I feel that the Council shouldn't get away with it but when you see weeds nearly 1ft high near to a memorial that means so much to this community then perhaps indeed it is time for citizens to take over - but also sack the individual(s) that has responsibility for ensuring that this place gets the attention it deserves.
just to put the record straight
regarding the comment made by Anonymous the only Cameron I want to be associated with is The Queens Own Cameron Highlanders, but as you mentioned The Big Society how would it be if the good folk of the town got together
& decided they have had enough of looking at that eyesore of a building at the corner of Leopold Street called The Regal & took it on themselves to spruce up the building with a good lick of paint
if they went ahead with this project I often wonder how they would stand legally & would the Old Bill take action as soon as the paint brushes came out, is there any good lawyers who are fans of The Gurn who would wish to give advice.
The weeds have gone as I had to once again (what seems for the thousandth time!!)go to the council service desk to complain. If Auld Sojer thinks that the Legion does nothing to have the War Memorial maintained, then let him check the number of times I, as Secretary of the Legion, have registered my complaints and the amount of work over the last few years I have put in to eventually get funding for the refurbishment of the War Memorial. We, in the Legion, do not look on the names as just that, but remembrance for those who gave their lives for this Country, in order that we can live the free democratic life we have today. This will probably be reflected in the remembrance those fighting for the same rights in the Middle East will receive when they eventually live in the same manner we do because those of those "names" on the War Memorial.
Quite agree with Auld Sojer and WO1 Reg SM. I'm not saying the Legion should do it all the time but they could do it once, get the reporters and media in to highlight that it's not being done and shame the Council.
As an ex-service man and a person who was brought up as an neighbour to and went to school with many of the men, women and boys whose names are inscribed on the War Memorial I am saddened to read that the area around the Memorial is in a state of neglect.
Members of my generation are becoming somewhat "thin on the ground" - not a pun - and I wonder how many of the folk born after 1945 are fully aware of what the Memorial represents.
After reading and agreeing with many of the comments made in connection with this item the following poem came to mind. It was written by a Priest who was awarded the Military Cross for going into No Man's Land to help the wounded during an attack on German front lines at Messine's Ridge in WW1.
INDIFFERENCE
When Jesus came to Golgotha they hanged Him on a tree.
They drove nails through hands and feet and made Him a Calvary;
They crowned Him with a crown of horns. red were his wounds and deep.
For those were crude and cruel days and human flesh was cheap.
When Jesus came to Birmingham they simply passed Him by.
They never hurt a hair of Him, they only let Him die;
For men had grown more tender and they would not cause Him pain
They just passed Him in the street and left Him in the rain.
Still Jesus cried "Forgive them for they know not what they do."
And still it rained and rained and drenched Him through and through;
The crowds went home and left the streets without a soul to see,
And Jesus crouched against a wall and cried for Calvary.
Reference the comment made by Nairnite.
Registering complaints and attempting to raise funds does little, if anything, to be rid of the weeds.
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