Stolen plaques replaced for Remembrance Sunday

New bronze plaques to replace those stolen from the war memorial at Boggart Hole Clough, are to be unveiled for the first time on Remembrance Sunday.

The bronze plaques, which were taken from the Angel Monument in Blackley last July, were inscribed with the names of 341 local men who lost their lives in World War One, and which had been on display in the park since 28 May 1921 until the theft this summer.

Now Manchester City Council has confirmed that the replacement plaques, which have been made by Eura Conservation, will be ready in time for Remembrance Sunday on 14 November. They will be carried to the site of the Angel Monument as part of the Remembrance Sunday service being held at Boggart Hole Clough at 2pm.

Eura conservation will then replace the plaques and repair the damaged stonework on the monument the week of 15 November.

Councillor Mike Amesbury, Manchester City Council's executive member for culture and leisure said: "This mindless act of vandalism has appalled everyone and I'd like to thank the local community for all their support as we have worked hard to replace these plaques in time for Remembrance Sunday.

"The utterly disrespectful behaviour of these vandals has been widely condemned across the whole city and it has been heartening to see people pulling together to ensure that those men who died fighting for our freedom will once again be honoured."

The new bronze plaques are a faithful replica of those that were stolen. Fortunately a full list of names, and photographs of the originals was held on file and Eura were able to recreate the two missing plaques by taking casts of the letters from the surviving third plaque.The letter casts were then fixed to a board to create a pattern (replicating exactly the layout and appearance of the original), and this was then used to create a mould and bronze cast in the foundry. After finishing the plaque, Eura then treated the surface of the bronze to reproduce the original aged patina of the original.

Councillor Amesbury added: "For such an involved job it is testament to the team at Manchester City Galleries and at Eura that they have managed to turn this around so quickly."

Everyone is welcome to attend the Remembrance Sunday service at Boggart Hole Clough on Sunday 14 November 2010.

People should meet at the Boggart Hole Clough visitors centre at 1.30pm and the minister will lead the procession to the Angel Monument for the 2.00pm service.