Restored – Lymm’s unique memorial to former students who gave their lives

A UNIQUE and largely forgotten memorial to 11 former pupils of the old Lymm Grammar School who gave their lives in World War 1 has been restored and, hopefully, will be cared for in future rather better than it has been in the past.
It consists of an avenue of 11 lime trees – actually there are only 10 now – which links Limefield Avenue and the path which runs down the side of The Crescent.
They were planted sometime after the end of the war in 1918.
A dedication ceremony will take place on Saturday, November 10 at 3.30pm conducted by Father Michael Burgess and attended by representatives of the parish council, the Royal British Legion and the Grammar School Old Students Association.
Originally, the site was the side entrance to Lymm Grammar School – later to become Lymm Secondary Modern School prior to being demolished more than 20 years ago when the school moved to Oughtrington Lane.
When the site was sold for housing, Lymm Parish Council successfully campaigned for the trees to be preserved, although they became virtually “landlocked” by houses and gardens.
As a result, the area has been neglected over the years and become overgrown.
But borough council tree surgeons recently did some work on the trees and uncovered a stone bearing the names of the 11 former students.
This has now been restored with funding from the parish and borough councils and a new memorial purchased to place alongside the stone.
It is planned to plant poppy seeds around the stone, cut back the undergrowth around the trees and set up a small “Friends” group to maintain the area in future.
Parish councillor Joe Griffiths, who is also Lymm Local History Society’s librarian, points out that the grammar school was, at one time, also a boarding school, which could explain why some of names on the stone are not on the Roll of Honour of local men who gave their lives which is in Lymm Parish Church.
He said: “There was pressure for the trees to be removed when the houses were built. But fortunately the council was able to prevent this from happening.
“One tree has gone – no-one seems to know how it happened but it may have been an accident.”