Half Moon Lane is a chilly place at this time of the year but I am basking in the warm glow of a job well done. It's nearly a week since a very successful event at Herne Hill Station and I am still asking myself how we did it. In less than six months we planned and delivered something that even a year ago would have seemed highly unlikely: a hand-carved memorial slate in prime position in central Herne Hill’s most important building. But there it now is, fixed to the wall.
A new 1914-18 war memorial for Herne Hill was on the agenda two and a half years ago when we were sketching out our research project with the Charter School but… where would we put it, what would it say, who would design it, what would it cost? With no clear answers and so much else to do, we put the idea to one side.
A year ago we published the memorial website and our little book to schedule, then held Herne Hill’s first ever two-minute silence on Armistice Day: an event that left many close to tears. A perfect way to celebrate the completion of the project. Except that it wasn’t complete; there were literally hundreds of casualties left to investigate. One fine June morning Dave Statham, Managing Director of Southeastern and a great supporter of community projects in Herne Hill, said to me “How about a permanent memorial in the station? You commission it and we’ll pay for it”. No committee, no fiddling about with our proposed text (though we did check that we had got the name of the railway company right!). We were trusted to get on with it.
Through the Lettering Arts Trust the name “Mark Brooks” was suggested. When we met him at the station, Laurence and I were sure we had found our man. Southeastern liked his work as much as we did and I wrote a letter of appointment.
So here we are. Websites and books come and go but a big lump of Welsh slate is as permanent as it gets. It will outlive us all.
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