IMAGES TAKEN NEAR TO
Kings Road, ASHTON-UNDER-LYNE, OL6 9EG

Looking east.

At the corner with Prospect Road. Viewed from the top deck of a bus.

The Great War Memorial at the northern end of Hurst Cemetery was unveiled in January 1921 by Sir Walter de Frece, the MP for Ashton at that time. The Gaelic cross stands 18ft high on top of a four sided plinth, surrounded by a small flowerbed. Each side of the plinth bears a cast bronze panel with names from the Great War. There are 185 names in all, and the panel also bears the inscription: "To the glory of God and in the loving memory of the men of Hurst who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War, 1914-1919.” (http://www.tameside.gov.uk/warmemorial/hurstcemetery - Tameside MBC). The houses behind are on King's Road.

Inside Hurst Cemetery, by the Kings Road entrance. A Gaelic cross, 18ft high, standing on plinth, dye by three bases. A small flowerbed surrounds the bottom base, and access is gained by climbing two small steps. The plinth has four sides, each bearing a cast bronze panel with names from the Great War. There are 185 names in all, and the panel also bears the inscription: "To the glory of God and in the loving memory of the men of Hurst who gave their lives for King and Country in the Great War, 1914-1919." Made of Peterhead Red Granite, the memorial was erected by John Knott and Sons of Ashton at a cost of more than £1,000. It was unveiled by the M.P. for Ashton, Sir Walter de Frece, on January 15, 1921. http://www.tameside.gov.uk/warmemorial/hurstcemetery

At the junction with Kings Road.

Approaching Hurst Cross. Viewed from the top deck of a bus.

Viewed from the top deck of a bus.

Hampson Place on the left.

According to the Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (link no loner available) Hurst Cross was erected in 1868 on what was assumed to be the site of a former cross. In the 1860s older local inhabitants remembered a heap of stones placed in a circular form by the junction although these had been gradually removed. A committee of local businessmen and members of the Hurst Local Board, under the chairmanship of Handel Wallwork, arranged for the collection of subscriptions, the release of the necessary land from the Earl of Stamford, and the design of the cross. The foundation stone was laid by Oldham Whittaker on Easter Monday, 1868 in a colourful ceremony which concluded with a dinner for 170 gentlemen at the Hurst Mechanics' Institute. Whittaker, with his brother John, was the largest employer in Hurst. Besides commemorating the earlier cross, it was suggested that the new cross might be associated with the recent extension of parliamentary democracy following the passing of the Reform Act. The cross itself was erected within four months though it was not to be until October 1869 that the Hurst Memorial Cross Committee finally handed it over it to the Hurst Local Board. The finished memorial was surrounded by railings and included a lamp.