New £40,000 war memorial for Bamburgh is taking shape

A Tommy silhouette in situ at Bamburgh war memorial.

The new monument, costing around £40,000, is being carved by Adrian Melkha and is expected to be finished by the end of the summer.

“It’s coming along really well and hopefully it will be up in the next few months, certainly before Remembrance Sunday,” said parish council chairman Barbara Brook.

The original war memorial dated from 1920 with alterations following the Second World War. Over the years, the stone of the memorial eroded and in 2010 some renovation work was carried out.

Bamburgh's new war memorial sculpture is taking shape.

Unfortunately, the stone used to repair the memorial proved to be even less durable and the inscription rapidly became unreadable and the surface treatment, meant to protect the original stone, actually caused it to erode further

The parish council, with the War Memorial Trust, decided that a replacement was necessary.

Until the memorial is replaced, a There But Not There Tommy figure is in situ.