Borders war memorials are spick and span

In the Best Kept War Memorial Campaign 2017, Jedburgh’s monument won the small community with gardens section, with Galashiels’ iconic peel tower coming first in the memorial without gardens category.

And Peebles branch won the prize for the memorial at Traquair, in the satellite memorial without gardens class.

Shaun Carroll, chairman of Jedburgh RBLS said: “We would like to thank all the gardeners, the horticultural society, Jed Shed and all the others that made our war memorial best in the category.

“Everybody has been doing their own bit and it’s been absolutely brilliant.

“It was an honour to accept the award for the town at the Poppy Factory in Edinburgh.”

The chairman of the Galashiels Branch, John Clowry, said this was the first time he had been asked to go up for the award ceremony.

He said: “It was really nice, and we were given a tour of the poppy factory, which was very interesting indeed.

“When I was given the trophy it was nice to see that Galashiels has been given this award twice before. It’s a really iconic building.”

The champion of champions was the Uddingston Memorial, looked after by the Hamilton branch.

A total of 108 memorials were submitted by branches across the country, and they were judged between the months of May and August.

The winners were welcomed at Lady Haig’s Poppy Factory at the end of September by national vice-chairman Martyn Hawthorn for the presentation.

Martyn said “The commitment of all involved must be commended, not just the winners, but all who gave their time, effort and skill to ensure that all memorials entered are a fitting place to honour those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice.”