A war memorial left neglected for almost 50 years has been resurrected thanks to a regional daily campaign.
The ‘lost’ tribute to 158 war heroes from Salford has now taken pride of place in a new home following a year-long campaign by the Manchester Evening News.
Award-winning MEN chief reporter Neal Keeling, who spearheaded the drive, described the memorial’s unveiling as the “best story” of his career, after launching the campaign 12 months ago.
Neal had been contacted by Salford born and raised Cassie-Ann Creely, who had been conducting research for her family tree but was unable to find a memorial containing the names of relatives who died in the First World War.
The new memorial, photographed by the MEN’s Eddie Garvey
The memorial was found by Neal to have been taken down in 1968 by the local council, in order to build a new road at its former location.
Since then, it was moved around various works yards and fell into a state of disrepair, and a picture of the “absolute disgrace” it had been left it was found with help from the Imperial War Museum.
The MEN then ran the picture across two pages, prompting the campaign to replace the memorial.
Said Neil: “The memory of these lads was literally just put in a skip. It looked an absolute disgrace and we ran it across two pages. That was the trigger for the campaign.”
After reading about it, bookmaker Fred Done donated £13,000 to the campaign and businesses from Salford offered to help with stone masonry and digging the foundations at a new site, as well as helping to raise the total £30,000 needed for the structure.
The new memorial was erected on Monday and unveiled on Armistice Day, two days later.
Neal, who began hs career at the weekly Radcliffe Times in 1982, added: “It was a brilliant reaction from the people and companies of Salford to right a rong and they just came to me.
“I’ve been in a position to cover some massive storys in Manchester like big crime stuff, and I was working when the IRA bomb went off, but from a personal point of view it’s probably the best story I’ve done.
“I’ve been in a privileged position to help someone right a wrong when they’ve needed a bit of clout to do it.”
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Another fantastic bit of journalism by probably the best reporter I’ve had the privilege of working with. Well done Neal.
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Without the effort, dedication and commitment of Mr Keeling, I feel this would never woud have happened. To find someone as willing to tell the story of my own disgust at what happened to this memorial and more importantly take it on and drive it forward to achieve the resurrection (of in my opinional a monumental part of our history) tells its own story, of a man who’s dedication to his profession and commitment to his readers knows no bounds. I and the 158 will be eternally grateful.
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You never cease to amaze me Mr Keeling.Well done!
Give me a ring in the new year and I”ll raise a glass to you.
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