War memorial cleaned ahead of Remembrance Day

The grade II listed war memorial at Plympton St Maurice has been deep cleaned ahead of Remembrance Sunday

A war memorial in Plymouth has been deep cleaned ahead of Remembrance Day on Sunday.

The Grade II listed memorial at Plympton St Maurice was restored by a former Army veteran who runs a community interest company (CIC) in Kent.

Royal Navy veteran Andrew Stephenson, who lives locally, said he was walking past the monument and noticed it needed more “care, attention and a bit more love”.

Mr Stephenson set up a fundraiser to help restore the memorial which contributed to the cost of it being spot cleaned and the names being repainted.

Andrew Stephenson said everyone has pulled together to get the war memorial back up to standard

“I investigated and saw the Military Grave Restorer’s work online and although he was based in Kent, he was the only person in country I have seen doing this sort of work.

“The biggest problem was getting the permissions because the monument is Grade II listed, so it took from May to October to get in touch with the right people.

“Once I was in touch with the right people, it was amazing, and everyone has pulled together to get the job done.”

He added: “Although the monument is cared for every year for Remembrance it was just in need of some extra TLC to get it back up to a standard and make the local community proud of it again.”

Steve Davies said the war memorial would look 'immaculate' by Remembrance Sunday

Army veteran Steve Davies, who runs the CIC, has been travelling the UK for about six years restoring military graves and memorials.

“I’m not here to make money, I am here to cover my costs. I have cleaned over 1,000 graves, about 30 memorials and about 10 statues," he said.

“I love the process and I love the before and after. I am a bit of perfectionist and I want to make sure it looks exactly right.

Mr Davies said he spot cleaned all the “nasty bits” on the memorial and jet washed it using an environmentally friendly cleaning product.

Terri Beer (centre) said restoring the war memorial was an "amazing project" for the local community

He added: “It takes two to three days to work but by Sunday, especially if it is dry, it will look immaculate."

“I will repaint the lettering as well. It is important to paint the names to make them stand out and remember who these guys are.”

Plympton Erle Councillor Terri Beer said: "This has been an amazing project to get involved in and it covers the whole of Plympton.

Terri Beer has asked people to put forward names of people who lost their lives in recent wars to add to the war memorial

“I think it is important that we never forget people who have given their lives for us in wars across the centuries."

Ms Beer also said she was looking to add local names to the war memorial who lost their lives in recent wars.