Hearts memorial to war dead 'cannot be sidelined'

Published on Saturday 27 September 2008 19:55

THEY were a team of outstanding players who took Heart of Midlothian to the top of the Scottish League.

But in November 1914, at the height of their careers, 13 of the players chose to leave Scotland and fight for their country, signing up to the 16th Royal Scots Battalion. Of the 13 who left for the front, only six returned.

In memory of the players, known as McCrae's Battalion, a clock and war memorial were donated to the city by the football club in 1922, and they have become a landmark at the centre of Haymarket junction in Edinburgh's west end and a symbol of pride for Hearts fans.

But to make way for tram works the memorial will be moved to a side street near Haymarket, and Scotland on Sunday can reveal it may never return to its original site.

Hearts supporters have branded the move "disgraceful" as the historic monument is swept aside, and they have formed a protest group to launch a campaign to protect the memorial's position.

Edinburgh councillors are also joining the campaign to get the memorial put back in time for next year's Remembrance Day, when wreaths are traditionally laid at the foot of the monument.

The memorial will be temporarily moved to Atholl Crescent, a nearby street parallel with Shandwick Place.

But despite an artist's impression that shows the memorial returned to the site, Edinburgh City Council has claimed it was never a formal plan to replace it and architects are looking into permanently relocating it to the less prominent position of Atholl Crescent.

A report from Cre8 Architecture, contracted by Transport Initiatives Edinburgh, show plans to position the memorial in the quiet Atholl Crescent permanently, "rather than it merely being a clock in the middle of an ever-busier road junction".

The report goes on to propose making the relocated memorial one of 25 visitor attractions on a 'Statue and Monument trail'.

Hearts supporters have reacted angrily to the idea of permanently moving the monument, which the football club was not consulted on, and have formed the Friends of the Heart of Midlothian War Memorial to lobby for its reinstatement.

Iain MacLeod, a leading activist in the campaign, said a permanent move from Haymarket would be "disgraceful".

John Longmuir, the secretary of the Glasgow Hearts Supporters' Club added: "This is a non-debate. The memorial either resides permanently at Haymarket or the club houses it at Tynecastle. Any other idea is a non-starter."

Former Hearts chairman George Foulkes said he was appalled by the idea of permanent removal.

Foulkes said: "It is symbolic at Haymarket, it should not be tucked away in a corner of the city. "It should be properly acknowledged in its traditional home as a focal point at Haymarket, and of course the annual Remembrance Service in November at Haymarket is one of the most important events in Hearts' calendar."

Jack Alexander, author of McCrae's Battalion, a history on the group, said: "I know an old lady who has pointed out that the stones surrounding the Haymarket memorial were covered by the tears of people who attended the Remembrance Day ceremony there.

"The people who built it wanted it to be visible at all times, as it is at the Haymarket junction. We have a responsibility to them."

Edinburgh councillors Ian Murray and Ricky Henderson have joined the fight to reinstate the memorial and will appeal to the council at next month's meeting to do the work as quickly as possible so the memorial can be removed after Remembrance Day this year and replaced before next year's occasion.

An Edinburgh Council spokeswoman stressed no final decision had been made. She said: "We will do our best to ensure it sits in a place which makes most people happy."

Hearts football club, which is at a sensitive stage of negotiations with the council over the 51m redevelopment of Tynecastle Stadium, has not made its position clear in the row. Officials will meet members of the Save Our Hearts campaign tomorrow.