HYDE CHESHIRE

Harry Rutherford's
Festival of Britain Mural




Tuesday 25 May 2010

Werneth Low

Photobucket

The cenotaph atop Werneth Low documents how many brave men died for their country ! The land on which the Cenotaph stands used to be known as "Great Stone Low" and was owned originally by a Mr Thomas William Tatton (circa 1851).

5 comments:

Hydonian said...

The Centeph on Werneth Low stands on the highest part of a hill known as Hacking Knife, 800ft above sea level.

The memorial is so more than the Cenotaph. As around 154 acres of land was also obtained in memory of those who fell, the land was designated as a place of recreation for the people of Hyde. A Mr T. Hall gave land off Mottram Old Road valued at that time as £500, the majority was bought with the money raised by the people of Hyde.

Over £14,000 was raised with £4,000 being spent to buy the lower Higham Estate, and £2,000 to build the memorial itself. Money raised was also used to help the children of the fallen through scholarships and grants. Money left over was used to convert nearby Aspland House into a maternity home. Alas Aspland is no more...

The Werneth Low memorial was unveiled on the 25th June 1921. A crouwd of 15,000 people turned out that day to see the unveiling ceremony.

Most people from Hyde have spent time here... the money raised was very well spent back then and secured a peaceful place for all the future gereration to enjoy. It was such a shame that along the way Hyde lost Aspland Maternity Home.

Hydonian said...

The Memorial, an Obelisk, is made from grey Cornish Granite taken from the same quarries that were used for the cenotaph in London.

Ex Hydeonian said...

I used to love going to the Cenotaph. The view, the feel of the place, the solemnity of the memory of the fallen. Always seemed poignant to me that such a beautiful place was a reminder of such horror that those brave men and women went through to keep our country safe.

On a tangent, once went up there with our pet Beagle Patch, possibly a candidate for ‘Dumbest Dog On the Planet’, but we loved him all the same. Some bright spark, (that would be ME!), decided to let Patch off his lead despite objections to contrary from Mother. Patch shot off down the Hacking Knife like a rat up a drainpipe.....all we could see was his ears flapping in the distance. We were there for hours waiting for the stupid thing to return, but he had other ideas. We were on our way back to the car, giving up hope of ever seeing the thing again when he finally decided to return.....several hours later. Did I incur the wrath of Mother on the way home??? You bet I did......big time!

Tom said...

Great memory there .. thanks for sharing. I have in the past sat down there to take in the view and found a very good 'Multi-Tool' and a fine pair of Binoculars at different times. We used to camp out in the hollow, and I have been told that kids still camp out up there now and then.

Unknown said...

I've camped there too! Happy days.