A MEMORIAL to those who lost their lives in the two world wars could soon be moved to a better location.

Cowling's war memorial has stood in a small garden next to the village's busy Main Street since November 1978.

Before that, it was located inside a specially-built shelter which was demolished after falling into a bad state of repair.

Now plans are afoot to move it once more into the village's recreation ground to an area more befitting a monument which has been neglected in recent years.

And Cowling residents are being asked to help in the project by coming up with a design for a more inviting entrance to the recreation ground incorporating the war memorial in a new position.

Youngsters are also getting in on the act as pupils from Cowling Primary School have also been asked to submit designs for the scheme.

The project is the brainchild of Cowling's recreation committee which comprises a group of locals who look after the running of the recreation ground and its facilities.

Chairman John Alderson told the Herald the re-siting of the war memorial and the new design of the entrance to the grounds was part of a project for the new millennium.

"We had wanted to change something and the opportunity is now there," he said.

"The original building which houses it had to be demolished because it would've been too costly to keep up repairs and the parish council at the time, in their wisdom, decided to knock it down.

"But the memorial itself is a centrepiece which just doesn't fit the bill where it is."

Mr Alderson added that the two entrances to the nearby recreation ground were via a stile to one side and a road shared by a nearby firm to the other side.

"It does make it a little bit uninviting and we want to make it so that it's accessible for people with prams or wheelchairs," he said.

"We want to create a wide, snaking path through the recreation ground and move the memorial where the sun shines on it between midday and dusk.

"We would also put some seats around it and make the area a lot more attractive."

The war memorial lists 21 men who lost their lives in the First World War and seven who died in World War Two.

Its re-location would also help solve the overcrowding problem in the memorial gardens during the Service of Remembrance each November.

Designs are expected to be considered in the next few months and work is due to start later in the year.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.