The committee of the Friends of Temple Memorial Park will lay a wreath of remembrance at the plaque which records its official opening as Temple Memorial Park. The service will be at 1300 hours on Sunday 11 November 2018.
The event will be a small service of remembrance to all the people of South Shields for their efforts in war time in the service of their country.
Temple Memorial Park was gifted by the Church Commissioners in 1944 to all the people of South Shields for their efforts in war time, they also requested it to be named after the late Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple. It was accepted by the then South Shields Borough Council as such. The gift was under a restrictive covenant that it was to be maintained as an open space of 175 acres for the public to use in perpetuity for their recreation and pleasure, also there were to be no buildings on it except communal buildings or buildings to promote the public’s enjoyment of the park.
The park recognised by the North East War memorial Trust as a war memorial and by the South Tyneside Borough Council, but still lacks a plaque to mark it as a war memorial. It is a unique memorial in that it is for all the people of South Shields, not only those that served in the forces including those who laid down their lives or those whose lives were forever changed and challenged. It is for all the people who lived in South Shields during war time who worked, fought fires, saved lives, made and repaired ships, etc. In fact everyone who lived in South Shields during war time and raised families, looked after friends and kept the borough functioning.
The Friends of Temple Memorial Park are campaigning for it to be permanently marked with an appropriate plaque.
The ceremony will be at the plaque which is at the junction of John Reid Road and King George Road in South Shields. Everyone welcome.