Overhaul for Helmsdale War Memorial

HELMSDALE War Memorial should be looking its best in time for the 100th anniversary in November of the end of World War I.

The handsome 60ft high, category C listed clock tower is undergoing an extensive £80,000 refurbishment with work having already started.

Three community organisations – Helmsdale and District Development Trust, Helmsdale Community Council and Helmsdale War Memorial Fund – have linked together to raise the funding required.

John Whitfield, chairman of the War Memorial Fund, said: "It is vital that we continue to remember the sacrifices that so many young men made for our freedom today and it is very important that this memorial is in a fitting condition for this 100-year anniversary of the end of WWI"

Located at Castle Park and with views over the sea, the war memorial is the focal point of the village.

It was erected in memory of 40 of the fallen from the local area and was unveiled and dedicated on August 27, 1924. More than 1500 people attended the service.

Highland Council now has responsibility for the building’s maintenance and preservation and renovation work last took place in 2000.

However the years since have taken their toll on the tower, which has a clock face on all four sides.

A fundraising drive to pay for refurbishment was launched in 2015 with collection jars placed in local businesses. A JustGiving page was later set up and fundraisers also pursued other avenues, taking a stand at the recent Helmsdale Highland Games with a 2505 brick model of the memorial.

Funding was also contributed by the national War Memorials Trust, SSE Gordonbush Community Fund and Caithness and North Sutherland Fund as well as Highland Council

A £29,270 grant was secured from the Centenary Memorials Restoration Fund, which is supported by Historic Environment Scotland and the Scottish Government.

Mr Whitfield said the fund was currently around £9000 short of its £80,000 target.

He said: "If we get a little more, we may be able to improve some of the items in the grounds, such as a very rusty gate and the access paths, which are in a pretty poor state."

Work to be carried out includes masonry, joinery, electrical and metal work repairs as well as specialist clock and stone conservation and repair work.

Mr Whitfield said: "Work has already started. To give the clock sub-contractor time to remove, clean, refurbish and replace the clock faces and mechanism and to have the scaffold down by late October, we needed to get going as soon as we could.

"We are hopeful that the memorial will be restored to a better condition before the community commemorates its fallen on November 11, the 100th anniversary of WWI."