Plaque honouring fallen WWII heroes returns to Ryhope via builder's yard and car boot sale

Sunderland Echo

A plaque honouring fallen heroes of WWII has returned to Sunderland. The men will be remembered on Armistice Day with a re-enactment of the service which took place when the plaque was originally unveiled 75 years ago.

Transcript

00:00No, not good job.

00:31Alright, OK, cool.

00:35That's right, that's right.

00:37OK, and Reverend Chadwick, can you just explain to me the backstory

00:40as to how this memorial plaque ended up here in the church, then, please?

00:43This plaque came to Ryop a few years ago

00:46when a gentleman called at the vicarage

00:48and said that he'd acquired this plaque at a car boot sale

00:52but he felt bad about having it in his house in Durham.

00:55He traced it to Ryop.

00:57It originally came from Ryop Grammar School

00:59and he felt it should be given back to the people of Ryop.

01:02He felt that that was really the proper place where it should be kept.

01:06And the story was that when Ryop Grammar School,

01:08which became the company enter school,

01:10when the building was demolished,

01:12the plaque was disposed of

01:14and it went to a builder's yard

01:17and then to the car boot sale from which the gentleman bought it.

01:20So that's how the plaque ended up here.

01:23And I understand you've got an order of service booklet which goes with it?

01:26Indeed.

01:27So the story behind this is it's very good having the plaque.

01:31That's amazing enough.

01:33But my mum was mentioning to her friends in her church in Durham

01:37that we'd had this memorial plaque given to us here in Ryop

01:41and the lady that my mother was talking to mentioned

01:44that her uncle was the first person named on this plaque, Thomas Aikenhead.

01:50And she said that her family had been present at Ryop Grammar School

01:55when this plaque was first dedicated on 11 November 1949.

02:01And what is more, the family still had in their possession

02:05the original order of service.

02:08So our plan is on 11 November,

02:1275 years after the original dedication of the memorial plaque,

02:16to rededicate the memorial plaque using this service.

02:21We can see the other names.

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