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September 14th 1935 saw the unveiling of the Weir War memorial. Despite unsettled weather there was a large gathering to witness the ceremony being performed by ex-police constable Richard Coates the first man to join up from Weir for services in the Great War. The occasion brought back dark memories of the war 1914-1918. The service was attended by the Mayor and Mayoress of Bacup Councillor W Marshall and Mrs Marshall along with many relatives and friends of the fallen. The memorial replaced a shrine that was formerly housed in the wall of the Weir branch Cooperative store. The memorial is a cross of scotch granite standing ten feet high with a two tier base of stone, encircled by a pavement of crazy paving which is approached by steps from a outer pathway the whole thing being enclosed by a local stone wall. On the horizontal piece of the cross is inscribed " Pro Patria" And below is the inscription " Erected to the memory of the men of Weir and district who fell in the Great War 1914-1918, Lest We Forget. The monument occupies a commanding position on the Burnley Road slop of the hill, the site chosen being immediately below the mound used for the bonfire on the occasion of the Kings Silver Jubilee celebrations last May. |
A plate bearing the names of those who served in the Great War from the Weir district removed from the shrine and a photograph of the original war memorial committee enclosed in a steel box have been placed beneath the cross.
It is believed that a total of 139 men from Weir joined up. Mr Coates being the first and Mr Barclay Condray being the second Before performing the unveiling ceremony Mr Coates remarked that he felt very honoured to be performing the ceremony. He was honoured to think he had been shoulder to shoulder with the men whose names were inscribed on the plate beneath that monument. There was one more thing he would like to point out and that was regarding himself being the first man to join up in the village. He did not want to take credit whatever for that. As most of them knew, he was a police constable at the outbreak of war. Before joining the force he had served for three years in the Coldstream Guards and he was on reserve when the war broke out and therefore like thousands of others at the outbreak of the war he had to go. A member of Stacksteads Prize Band Mr E Whittaker sounded the revile.
The Weir war committee had been
in existence for approximately 19 years Mr Alfred Thompson Mr I E Kilpatrick was the monumental Mason the land being paid for by the Irwell Springs Company.
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