Alnwick and County Gazette by N/A 20/8/1921 Source: Media Library Published: N/A Alnwick, Northumberland

Carter Postcard Collection

Hexham Courant by N/A 10/7/1998. Source: Media Library, Published: N/A Hexham, Northumberland

Cumberland & Westmorland Herald, 9/9/1922, page 2

Historic England website; Details of the Grade II Listing (List Entry Number 1463516) of the memorial on 18/4/2019. (The 'Comments' page includes photos dated 3/6/2024 of the memorial, after it was cleaned by Westmorland and Furness Council for D Day 80th anniversary): https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1463516. Accessed 30 July 2024.

Penrith Observer, Tuesday 5th September 1922 (page 5); printed a detailed report of the unveiling, which began: 'ALSTON'S TRIBUTE TO ITS HEROES. UNVEILING OF THE WAR MEMORIAL. VISIT OF LORD LONSDALE AND GENERAL SIR C. LOWTHER. Yesterday was an eventful day in the history of Alston, a large number of people, both resident and visiting gathering together to pay a tribute to the men from the town who fell in the war. The occasion was the unveiling by the Earl of Lonsdale, Lord Lieutenant of Cumberland, of the obelisk which is the war memorial. Soon after the scheme was first considered, Mr. I. Walton, London, promised £300 on condition that Alston raised other £200. This was soon forthruming, and the work was proceeded with. The memorial is erected at the corner of the Penrith and Brampton roads; is 18ft. 6in. high from the base, which is of Penrith red sandstone. The shaft is of Westmorland limestone, and the whole is worthy of the purpose for which it was erected. The obelisk bears the inscription: "This monument is erected to the glorious memory of those or Alston who gave their lives in the great war, 1914 - 1918. 'Their name liveth for evermore." On the sides are the following names of those from Alston who made the supreme sacrifice: J. W. Collinson, W. F. Featherston, E. Wymer, R. Atkinson, R. W. Stobbart, T. E. Spark, A. Douglas, J. A. Havelock, F. A. Milligan, W. C. Brown, T. Archer, J. Douglas, T E. Ramsay. J. W, Archer, A. E. Alderson, E. Beadle, A. Robson, Alice Renwick, J. Bennett, W. J. Little, N. Oxland, T. Moore, J. H. Dowson, J. D. Nicholson, H. Abbott, W. Turnbull, J. R. Cranston, J. H. Rutherford, H. J. Jackson, W. Ralph, M. H. Pickering, S. Dickinson, L. M. Thompson, H. J. Vipond, H. F. Walton, W. Davidson, H. D. Dickinson, and J. Spottiswood. The ceremony began with a procession, led by the Alston Band, and followed by Captain Lawson, Alston Secondary School, who led the ex-Servicemen. Halting at the manorial the ex-Servicemen formed up on three sides of the obelisk. Here there was a large attendance, among those present being the Earl of Lonsdale, the Lord Mayor of Newcastle (Alderman R. H. Millican, a native of Alston), and his daughter, the Lady Mayoress: Major-General Sir Cecil Lowther. M.P., the Rev. W. H. Harvey Royce, R.N., Colonel Hawthorn, the Revs. W. Walton, S. Taylor (Neathead), V. Byles, and G. W. Elliott. The District Council was reported by Messrs. R. C. Bell (chairman), J. Rolfe, J. W. Walton, T. W. Dowson, G. Ward, T. A. Holmes, and S. Lee, and Mrs. Cote: and Mr. A. Pickering. The service opened with the singing of "O God, our help in ages past," followed by the reading of a Lesson from Revelation by the Rev. G. M. Elliott. "Jesu, Lover of my soul" was sung, after which the Rev. G. Vipond Byles offered prayer. Mr. S. Lee, who presided, introducing Lord Longstone, said they were gathered that day to witness the results of the labours of the committee who had so ably carried out the scheme of providing Alston with a war memorial. They had asked Lord Lonsdale to unveil it as he was representative of all that was best in a Cumbrian. LORD LONSDALE said before he officially unveiled the memorial he wished to say he did not grieve for the men of Alston who had died, for they went to war and gave all they had cheerfully, and he was sure they would be happy now. It those who were left behind for whom he was sorry. The men who had fought and come back had left their own mark in the history of the war. He joined with them in sympathising with those who were lost. His Lordship then withdrew the Union Jack from the front of the monument. The Rev. W. H. H. Royce, in dedicating the obelisk, said it was an emblem of triumph and honour. He referred in sympathetic terms to the men who had fallen. Those men had died in the hope of a better England, and they who were left must do their best to see that they were not disappointed in that hope. The Blessing was pronounced, after which many beautiful wreaths were placed at the foot of the monument. A touching part of the ceremony was the sounding on bugles of the "Last Post," followed by a one minute's silence, after which the Reveille was sounded...'. [The report mentioned that the deed of conveyance of land for the site of the memorial was 'presented by Mr. William Walton, on behalf of Mr. Isaac Walton, London, and Mr H. Bell suitably accepted it'].

External website; biographical details of some of the casualties: https://www.roll-of-honour.com/Cumberland/Alston.html