14/11/2007

Local News in Aldershot

Loonies pleased as landmark is restored

OFFICIAL Monster Raving Loony Party members have thanked Rushmoor Borough Council for restoring a military field gun in time for Armistice Day.

The 25lb field gun outside Aldershot railway station is the first thing many people visiting the town by train see, but it had fallen into disrepair.

Official Monster Raving Loony Party chairman Anthony Blyth — aka The Jersey Flyer — says the party will launch a campaign to save Aldershot’s heritage.

As former military men, Mr Blyth and fellow Loony Bob Stanton — Professor Nabob — say the town should be embracing its military past.

Mr Stanton, who stood for election in Rowhill ward in May’s local elections, says the Army has always taken great care of its kit and feels it is a shame the town is not doing the same.

In July, he and Mr Blyth identified the field gun outside the station as one treasure that was not being given the respect it deserved.

My Blyth, formerly of 1Bn, The Parachute Regment, said the canon was “in a terrible state”.
He wrote to the Mayor of Rushmoor expressing his concern and sadness at finding “so many watering holes have succumbed to the march of progress”.

He wrote: “Many will, of course, know Aldershot for its military connections, but even if they do not, a field gun is an interesting object to walk over to and examine.

“What a pity it is in such a sorry state of disrepair — this historical part of our heritage that was made to boost the might of the British Army upon the battlefield. Its once proud gun crew would surely cry ‘shame’ on those who would leave it to look so forlorn and rusty.

“Even more so since there is a plaque upon it stating that this is part of a refurbishment of the area — and so it may have been at that time, but now the sight of it would upset many an old soldier.”

At the time David Quirk, Rushmoor Borough Council’s head of environment, said the flat tyres would be filled with foam and other work completed within weeks.

Four months later the party feared people arriving for Remembrance Day services would be greeted with the same sorry sight. However, last week TeamRushmoor restored the canon to its former glory by rubbing it down, removing the rust and giving it a fresh coat of dark green paint.

Mr Quirk said: “The gun represents part of Aldershot’s unique military history and heritage so we wanted to get it back into a good condition for our visitors to see as they arrive in Aldershot.”

Mr Stanton was grateful. He said: “I’m pleased to see that Rushmoor Borough Council and our Lord Mayor have at last recognised, before Armistice Day, the need to preserve our heritage.”

Mr Blyth said the party would be making up badges with the slogan ‘Save Aldershot’s Heritage’ in a bid to ensure other relics, such as those at the Airborne Forces Museum at Browning Barr-acks, are there for future generations.

He said: “I’m grateful for what has been done but I can’t understand why it’s taken so long. Aldershot has been the home of the British Army for years and that is something we should be proud of.

“We do have our sights set on other areas of Aldershot and we’re currently engaged in viewing other areas of the town and objects in them.”

He said the campaign would start within the party and could expand depending on the response it received.

Justin Coll, of Aldershot Civic Society, said the town needed to capitalise on its military links. “The military history of Aldershot is its identity and what separates it from every other town in the area. It’s something that’s never ever really been embraced,” he said.

He compared Aldershot to Woking, where a new historic centre to celebrate the town’s connections with the Army was recently opened.

Mr Coll said: “In comparison with this town I’d say they probably don’t have as much history, certainly in the last 100 years, but we’re failing to do anything about it.

Aldershot was a major part of the British Empire because the Army was centred here.”

Aldershot would do well to learn a lesson from Farnham, where history is embraced and the streets “spruced up”.

Mr Coll said more parades would also contribute to ensuring Aldershot’s military past is never forgotten.

First printed in: Aldershot News and Mail