Manchester Traincare Centre hosts second annual war memorial service
Staff and dignitaries at Longsight joined together to remember the dead of two world wars at a special ceremony at the traincare centre.
The memorial service, again led by the Rev Richard Cook of the National Rail Chaplaincy, remembered the 21 men of the Locomotive Department at Longsight who lost their lives during the Great War, as well as the 89 who served in the armed forces, together with those who served and died in the 1939-45 war.
Present on the day were 30 Alstom employees, including Customer Director Tim Bentley, who laid the wreath, and Bishop of Manchester Nigel McCulloch, Manchester’s Lord Mayor, Elaine Boyes, and the Lady Mayoress, Linda Geoghegan.
The ceremony took place in the Memorial Room at Alstom’s Manchester Traincare centre, which was originally dedicated on 13 November 1921, in remembrance of those who lost their lives in the First World War. In 2011 Rev Cook led a service to re-dedicate the roll of honour.
Alstom refurbished the roll of honour in 2011 and in doing so created the Memorial Room for employees and visitors to remember the former railway workers from the site.
Here Tim Bentley, Alstom's Customer Director, honours Longsight's war dead.
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn...
UPDATE: This from the Vice Marshall...
"I went over to the National Memorial Arboretum yesterday.
"Couldn't get in initially, until the official ceremonies had taken place, but having got in at about 14.00 we walked down to the Railway Industry Memorial — sadly to find no tributes had been left on it at all, save for a single poppy on a cross resting against one of the surrounding seats. You can see it bottom right of the attached picture.
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"Shame — after all the fuss made about its unveiling back in May.
"Most of the other memorials in the Arboretum featured tributes — some wreathes, but mainly lots of poppies on crosses."
Oh dear, this is very disappointing!
Perhaps coordinating a suitable annual Armistice Day commemoration at the Railway Industry Memorial is something that the RDG can take on?