WALLYFORD Community Council is to receive a grant from the Scottish Government to carry out conservation work on the First World War Crookston War Memorial, ensuring it is preserved for future generations.

The grant of £2,115 from the Centenary Memorials Restoration Fund is also supplemented with additional funding of £600 from East Lothian Council’s Civic Pride Fund.

Extensive weathering of areas of the red sandstone memorial had led to concern about its condition.

The memorial was first erected at Crookston School, previously located between Whitecraig and Wallyford.

When the school closed in 1956, the memorial, bearing the names of 61 soldiers from Wallyford, Whitecraig and Smeaton who were killed during the First World War, was moved to its present location, just inside the gates of Inveresk Cemetery.

Alister Hadden, vice-chairman of Wallyford Community Council, said he was “delighted” with the award of the grants, and hoped that the local community would get behind the project.

Mr Hadden said: “We have been working on this application for around a year and, as a community council, we are absolutely delighted the restoration work will be going ahead, hopefully at the beginning of April.

“Parts of the stone have become eroded through water damage over the years and the money will be going towards restoring those damaged parts, and also to repoint the joints of the stone tablets.

“This is a wonderful time for the grant to come through, as we are commemorating the centenary of the Great War this year. Hopefully by restoring the memorial, future generations, including local schoolchildren, will be able to not only learn about the sacrifice these men gave to their country but to remember and pay tribute.” Restoration work on the Crookston War Memorial is due to begin in April, and should take about three weeks to complete.