IT WAS about time. That’s the message from across York when it was announced that the city’s historic war memorial could be cleaned and repaired.
For several years, public pressure has been growing to clean the York North Eastern Railway War Memorial in Station Rise. Officially opened 100 years ago, it commemorates the hundreds of local men who died in both World Wars.
The monument serves as a center of commemoration every year.
Cleaning work on the monument has been postponed while tests are carried out to determine the best method to clean the historic monument without causing further damage.
But this week, Network Rail, which is responsible for the monument, submitted a planning application to York City Council to clean and repair the monument.
The opening of the North Eastern Railway war memorial at Station Rise in 1924.
York-Normandy veteran Ken Cooke said it was time to clean the war memorial.
“It’s disgusting. It got to the point where I wanted to take a bar of soap and do it myself!” he told The Press.
“It’s a memorial to the guys who didn’t come home and it should be taken care of. It serves a very good purpose, so I’m very happy that they’re going to clean it up.”
Nick Bielby, of the York Normandy Veterans Association, added: “This is wonderful news – but it is high time. The state it is currently in is disrespectful to those who gave their lives. It really needs to be restored to its former glory.”
York-Normandy veteran Joseph Wood, who served on a minesweeper clearing the approach to Normandy beaches of mines, said he was delighted to see the war memorial cleaned. “We should not forget those who gave their lives,” said the 99-year-old. “It should be cleaned as a mark of respect.”
Duncan Marks, of the York Civic Trust, said the memorial’s poor condition was a “disgrace” for the city, adding: “It is York’s most iconic and striking war memorial. Its prominence and location on the route between the station and the city centre means that millions of people walk past it and notice it every year.”
“For this reason, the poor maintenance is a great embarrassment for many in the city. There is a danger that we will give the impression that we do not care about the war dead and the city’s associated heritage.”
“As we mark the centenary of the memorial’s unveiling this year, the proposed clean-up is all the more timely. But we should be realistic and not see this as a one-man solution. There is a real need for ongoing conservation of our war memorials.”
Shane Sayner, who led a campaign and petition to clean up York, including the war memorial, also welcomed the news and said he would now apply pressure to ensure the memorial was cleaned in time for the remembrance events in November.
Photo shows veteran Ken Cooke in Normandy on the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Mr Cooke says plans to clean the war memorial in York are welcome. Image: York Normandy Veterans
He said: “There is a lot of outrage about the way York looks unkempt. We submitted our petition to the city council this week – we received 2,547 names in just three weeks.
“When I was younger, the monument was white and I could read all the names. It is extremely important to have it cleaned.
“It’s shameful – especially when the monument is right next to the town hall. It’s so disrespectful.”
In its design and access statement to planners, Network Rail states that a trial cleaning of the monument has already been carried out and found that steam cleaning appears to be the “most effective and acceptable” method, “without causing any visible loss of the stone finish”.
The report states that the monument’s current contamination could be due to a combination of “environmental pollution, biological growth, previous chemical or abrasive cleaning, natural weathering and poor maintenance.”
There are plans to clean the entire memorial, but there are no plans to restore it to its original appearance.
Built from Portland stone, the memorial bears the names of 2,236 NER men who lost their lives in the First World War.
On the back of the Stone of Remembrance there are 15 slate tablets with the names of 551 men who lost their lives in the Second World War.
In 2011, the names of the victims of the First World War were recorded on bronze plaques next to the memorial.
The names from both wars are also recorded in memorial books in the National Railway Museum in York.
The memorial was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and built in 1923.
The monument is a listed building and is located in York’s Central Historic Core Conservation Area.
The planning application (ref.: 24/01362/LBC) can be viewed at planningaccess.york.gov.uk.
Further public notices can be found daily in the press and online at: publicnoticeportal.uk/york-press.
