A PROMINENT Borders war memorial could be set for a move if sufficient funding is found.
Following a report in TheSouthern last month about a £1million fund for the upgrade and maintenance of Scottish war memorials, St Boswells Community Council decided to investigate the possibilities of relocating the village’s memorial.
The war memorial stands on the edge of the village, alongside the A68, which means the trunk road has to be closed to enable the annual Remembrance ceremony to take place.
Dougie Oliver, chairman of the community council, said: “It was an article in TheSouthern about money for renovating war memorials that started us talking in the community council.
“We contacted the Royal British Legion and they are very much up for moving it, however the Historic Scotland money is only available for renovations.”
Despite the initial setback, Mr Oliver said that the community council was keen to investigate other funding opportunities which could enable the memorial to be moved.
It is proposed that if funding is received then the memorial would be moved to the village green, closer to the centre of the village.
Mr Oliver said: “The idea would be to move it to in front of Buccleuch Gardens, where the houses were built for war veterans, and make it feel part of the village.”
He added that at the moment the memorial’s position was an “inconvenience” on Remembrance Sunday due to the distance from the centre of the village and the need for the road to be closed for the ceremony to take place.
“If it was in the village then that might mean we would get more people at the service,” Mr Oliver said.
Although he admitted that it would be a “big operation” to move the memorial, Mr Oliver said the relocation could enable work to be carried out to alleviate long-standing drainage problems on the village green, which causes an almost year-round puddle.
Mr Oliver said that the memorial could also be redesigned slightly if moved, and a small garden area and seating could be created around it.
The memorial honours a total of 36 men who died in the First and Second World Wars.
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