Handover after Oakengates poppy cross revamp

The original cross in Hartshill Park was created in 2014 out of real sandbags as part of Great War centenary commemorations. It has now been rebuilt with concrete sandbags by civil engineering firm J N Bentley at the firm's expense.

"It's absolutely amazing," said Mo Wallace, secretary of Oakengates and District Royal British Legion who received the cross from the firm at a presentation ceremony.

"I never thought we would get to this point. It's been a long time coming. It's been hard work but everybody has pulled together and the support from the council and community has been unprecedented.

"The original sandbag poppy cross using proper sandbags was put here in 2014 to commemorate 100 years of World War One. That was done by the then chairman of the branch, Steve Wood, and the idea was that at the end of November 1918 they would disintegrate and just go.

"However the strength of feeling among branch members and the community was that they wanted a more lasting memorial. People came here, particularly at remembrance time, and it became a focal part of our Remembrance Sunday service."

Attempts to get funding to make the cross permanent proved difficult, but then J N Bentley agreed to do the work as one of its community projects.

"Bentley's took it on and very kindly funded the whole project for us. They've been absolutely amazing."

The permanent sandbags were made from concrete using plastic moulds and the revamped cross, which has a flower bed in the middle, has kept the symbolic orientation towards Ypres of the original.

Bentley's head office is in Skipton, Yorkshire, but it has a regional office in Shifnal. The presentation was made by director Darren Ramsay and contracts manager Carl Rickerby.

Darren said he wouldn't like to say how much the work had cost.

"We don't want costs to come into it, but we started with a budget, and have blown the budget," he said.