Delight as Rogart War Memorial is to be refurbished
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Residents are delighted to learn that next spring the Rogart War Memorial will finally be refurbished.
Despite the best efforts of some volunteers in the community, in recent years the memorial has fallen into a state of disrepair. Since the Creich and Kincardine Branch of Legion Scotland took over the administration of the Rogart and Lairg branch two years ago, they have been working to obtain the funds needed to undertake the works required.
They have now secured full funding for the project with 80 per cent to be funded by the Kilbraur Wind Farm Community Benefit Trust Fund and 20 per cent from SSE’s Gordonbush Community Fund.
The project is to be undertaken by local man Don Dickson and will take three weeks to complete.
The railings and gate are in a very poor condition and will be completely refurbished; the cast iron stripped “back to black” and repainted with any sections too badly corroded replaced. The back fence of tensioned steel wires is a health and safety hazard and will be replaced with steel bars.
The memorial itself has some verdigris on it and will be cleaned. The wall and stones are covered in moss and will be cleaned and repointed. As the stone chippings in the garden around the memorial are propagating and include patches of different types of stones, the whole area will have a new membrane and a complete recovering of chippings. The flower beds are very large and will be reduced to a more manageable size using membranes and stone chippings. A cherry tree whose roots are threatening the memorial will be removed.
Branch secretary Fiona Porter said: “It has been a challenge to secure the funding we need to restore the war memorial to its former glory and we are delighted that the two wind farms have agreed to cover the costs. We have previously consulted the community council about our plans and some people locally. But we are keen to address any concerns there may be so invite anyone in the community to contact us by e-mail on f.porter514@btinternet.com or to attend our next branch committee meeting, the AGM, to be held in Bonar Bridge Community Hall at 7.30pm on Tuesday, December 3.”
