Restoration kicks off environment improvements

A monument to a town’s war dead is to be revamped as part of a £100,000 programme of environmental improvements in East Durham.

The renovation and repair of the war memorial at Seaham is just one of a number of projects being funded by District of Easington Council as part of a wider initiative to enhance the area’s physical appearance.

The council is still drawing up the full list of sites where improvement works will be carried out but has already agreed funding for the refurbishment of the monument.

Tony Perrins, the council’s Environmental Services Manager, said: “We were already considering a variety of projects to benefit from the funding when we were approached by Seaham’s Friends of War Memorials Group.

“The monument did undergo refurbishment as part of the Turning the Tide project a few years ago but it still needs more work doing.

“This latest scheme will include some general maintenance work as well as the cleaning of the structure, however, we won’t be taking the granite back to its original bright white condition as we’ve found that people would rather it maintained an element of aging.”

The scheme will see a number of repairs to the monument, which was erected almost a century ago in memory of those who lost their lives during the First World War.

The lighting around the monument will be repaired and the inscription on the stone itself renewed, while the flagstones around the memorial will be repointed.

The work, which is expected to cost just under £10,000 should be completed by the end of March.

Other projects due to be undertaken as part of the £100,000 environmental improvement scheme include creating better access to the beach at Easington Colliery and the creation of additional parking bays in Dene Way, Seaham.