Fix bayonets! Damage to Doncaster village's war memorial fixed after some 30 years

Fix bayonets!
Conisbrough war memorial before repairs were madeConisbrough war memorial before repairs were made
Conisbrough war memorial before repairs were made

It had been missing for decades - but the broken bayonet on Conisbrough's war memorial has finally been mended.

And planning permission for it to stay in place has now been given, so the memorial, which is almost 100 years old, is back as it should have been.

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The bayonet was specially commissioned and cost £1,200. It was a 50/50 split between the council and local community group 'Poppies at the Castle'.

Officials are not sure how long the piece of the statue, depicting a World War One solider, on top a plinth at Coronation Park, near Conisbrough Castle, had been missing. But the damage is thought to date back to the 1980s.

The work to mend it was done before Armistice day - but has only just been given planning permission this week to be kept in place. It had to have planning permission because of the listed heritage status of the memorial, but had initially been put up without the official permission.

Conisbrough ward councillor Nigel Ball, said: “The bayonet had been missing for many, many years so it was fitting that the council working together with local community groups raised the money to have it replaced last October in good time for Armistice Day.”

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Coun Chris McGuinness, cabinet member for communities, the voluntary sector and environment, added: “Replacing the bayonet on the Conisbrough War Memorial is a significant statement which has been warmly welcomed by the local community. The life size statue of a World War One infantryman was erected in the early 1920s in memory of the fallen from Conisbrough and it was only right that the missing bayonet was reattached."

The broken bayonet was the second time the statue had been damaged.

On the previous occasion it had half an arm and gun broken completely off.