A new community memorial garden has been officially opened in Thorniewood, Uddingston.
Residents gathered last weekend as Thorniewood community council – which covers Birkenshaw, Tannochside, Viewpark and Fallside – officially opened the garden.
It was born from a small patch of unsightly waste ground, adjacent to the Tannochside Miners' Welfare, after councillor Bob Burrows managed to secure it to be used as a community space.
Patricia Warren, secretary of Thorniewood Community Council, told Lanarkshire Live : "The past 18 months has been traumatic for many of us and so we thought we should create a memorial garden from this waste ground.
"Like many areas, we too have lost locals to both Covid and non- Covid related illness, so this provides a fitting tribute to lost loved ones.
"We worked with local groups like the Viewpark Conservation Group, Viewpark Gardens Allotments, the Viewpark Gardens Trust and the Men’s Shed. These groups provided a good price for the benches, plant donations and lots of advice."
Two benches have also been placed in the grounds to honour the memories of David Saunders and Jim Coffey, both of whom were known for their work locally in campaigning for improved services in the area.
Plaques have also been placed on surrounding fences to create a memorial wall, which is proving popular with people in the area for remembering their lost loved ones.
The garden was formally opened last Saturday with the families of the men being honoured in attendance as well as residents and elected councillors Bob Burrows, who secured the ground, Helen Loughran, Jordan Linden and Angela Campbell.
The invited guests were then welcomed into the adjacent Tannochside and Bredisholm Miners' Welfare Club, where they enjoyed refreshments supplied by the community council.
Patricia added: "The community council has now also agreed to help form a committee to run the Miners' Welfare after many of their committee passed away during the pandemic, the existing members were delighted that we were wiling to help get the club back up and running.
"In the last few weeks we had been running a school uniform bank in conjunction with councillors Norah Mooney and Helen Loughran, which was very successful and we hope to facilitate more projects in the future."
The next community council meeting is on Tuesday September 14, at 7pm in the Tannochside Miners Welfare. All are welcome to attend.
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