Remembrance
John Lomax
“Remembrance” was Kendal Rtn John Lomax’s presentation to the club on November 10th, using Sandy Lofthouse, a former Vicar of Levens’s research into the men named on the Beetham war memorials, especially in relation to WW1.
Beetham Parish used to be much bigger, stretching from the now A65 to Foulshaw Moss: the 1901 census records 619 people. WW1 claimed the lives of sixteen and WW2 five men, which must have had a significant impact in the local community.
A wooden cross with a plaque for each casualty of WW1 is in Beetham Parish Church – stone memorials came later, and a beautifully embroidered Roll of Honour remembers all those who served. It was worked by Agnes Audrey Hilton in 1922.
John took us through several stories of bravery and loss, notably that of the Clegg family, who had a country house at Haverbrack and lost two sons at Gallipoli within days: their family wiped out and the devastation that must have caused. The family installed stained glass windows in the church in their memory.
John finished with the comment that war memorials should serve as a reminder for freedoms won and we were all given a copy of the booklet “Those Who Served from Beetham in the Great War 1914 – 1918” with more interesting background information.
