Pebble war memorial to get complete restoration

The 141 pebbles, which represent the Saltash men who lost their lives in World War One, are being removed from a resin slab so they can be restored

Hand-painted pebbles representing lives lost in World War One are being carefully removed from a memorial garden in Saltash to be restored.

The 141 pebbles honour the town's 140 soldiers who died in the war with the additional one placed for those soldiers whose names may have gone unrecorded.

They were set in resin seven years ago and are now showing signs of deterioration and are being removed and repainted with the plan to replace them in three month's time.

Tony Marsh, a former member of the Saltash Great War Committee, said: "People do feel really strongly about this renovation and we've had a lot of people concerned that we will look after those pebbles."

Sue Hooper said people hold the pebble memorial in the hearts "because they look at every pebble as a soldier that died"

It was Sue Hooper who found a painted pebble in her garden left by a girl called Krystal that started the idea of a pebble memorial.

The Saltash Great War Commemoration Committee (SGWCC) sent out an appeal for painted pebbles to mark the Centenary of World War One and was inundated with designs.

One hundred and forty were chosen and the former MP Anne Widdecombe laid the 141 pebbles at the top of the memorial.

Sue Hooper, who was chair of the SGWCC at the time, said: "There were so many we put them around the walls of the Memorial Peace Garden and said to people "take a pebble".

"And remember the Great War, remember the valiant and the brave and people did," she said.

Resident Annie Ross picked up a pebble with a red cross with a few words in each square.

"I keep it on my hallway table," she said.

"This is a beautiful garden, gets lots of people coming to sit here and find the peace that they want.

Workers are removing the pebbles from the Pebble Memorial Garden so they can be repainted and returned

Seven years ago when the pebbles were being handed in, photographs were taken of each design and referenced to where they were placed in the memorial garden.

Each pebble has been bagged and tagged to be given to artist David Whittley to be cleaned and restored to its original design.

It will then be protected with a UV coating to ensure longevity before being set in resin again.

The pebble memorial has long been recognised as an official Saltash Town Council War Memorial and acknowledged annually with a floral tribute during the Civic Remembrance Service.