by Terry Bearpark
Thanks to a lot of hard work and planning and a generous benefactor, residents of Burton Pidsea now have a war memorial in the village for the first time.
The Corten steel memorial bears the names of three villagers who lost their lives in the First World War and eight names from the Second World War, and is flanked by two cutouts of soldiers. In front is a small memorial garden.
Over time the steel will gently rust to give a more mellow appearance to the memorial.
At a Remembrance service and ceremony on Sunday afternoon resident Ted Stamford had the honour of unveiling the new memorial, which bears the name of his grandfather Edward, a dispatch rider who lost his life in the First World War.
Several relatives of those whose names are on the memorial also attended the service.
Women in the village have also spent many months knitting 4,000 wool poppies to form twin cascades from a tree in front of the Memorial Hall, which opened in 1954 after many years of fundraising in honour of villagers who gave their lives during the wars.
Inside the hall were many decorations and displays marking the wars, with one relating the lives of several of those on the new memorial.
