Bespoke memorial bench installed in Shifnal
A Shropshire firm has created and donated a bespoke bench of remembrance to a town.
ACS Telford created a bench decorated with poppies and a message of remembrance - and it has now been installed in the centre of Shifnal.
The company offered to make the bench in time for Remembrance Day last year but it waited in ACS' workshop for months while the company waited for confirmation from the authorities on where it would go.
It has the message 'Lest We Forget' in the centre as well as colourful poppies. Now it has been installed near the Patons car dealership, it has been catching eyes.
Steve Elliman from the company said: "I saw on Facebook that a group [Shifnal Chat] was trying to raise money for a memorial bench because they had seen one in Wolverhampton.
"We got in touch and thought we could gift one free of charge.
"It was supposed to go up for Remembrance Day but it has been sat in the workshop for such a long time.
"It looks really good, we have had some really positive comments on it. It has red poppies on for remembrance and also purple poppies, they are for animals that passed away.
"It is a bespoke design from an artist."
Resident Kim Lathe said: "The red poppies are to remember the fallen servicemen and women and nurses who gave their lives.
"The two purple poppies on the bench signify all of the animals who were taken from farmers and ordinary people to help fight in World War One and the Second World War.
"Horses and homing pigeons especially played key roles and many animals were killed during the fighting”.
