A NEWTON Abbot couple who want to remain anonymous have come forward and paid for the £1,000 refurbishment of the Highweek war memorial and it looks brand new for Sunday's Remembrance Day wreath laying ceremony at 11.15am.

And one of the proudest of those attending is the president of the Newton Abbot Branch of the Royal Naval Association, Patrick Mole.

He has been striving for the memorial to be repaired after visiting All Saints' Parish churchyard with his wife, Lesley, and friends Ron and Valerie Rundle, who were on holiday from Australia.

A former Newtonian, Valerie (nee Wills) wanted to visit the graves of relations and all were dumbfounded when they saw the state of the memorial.

Several of the names of those who had made the ultimate sacrifice were eroded and the memorial was in very poor condition.

Ashamed and disgusted, Mr Mole, who lives in Highweek, asked the church and town council if they could help pay for repairs, but had no joy. He also asked the Royal Naval Association and the Royal Marines Association if they would make voluntary contributions – but now those are not required.

'As president of the RNA I also felt guilty about its state. Now it is looking wonderful and the residents of Highweek have a war memorial to be proud of again. I would like to thank the couple who gave the money. It was a wonderful gesture,' he said.

All the names, bar one, have been traced. The other was so faded it has not been possible as yet to discover who it was.

Mr Mole also thanked a historian, who also wanted to remain anonymous, who had discovered the other names and helped with the background details of those who lost their lives in the two world wars.

The memorial was repaired by Holcombe stonemason Mark Cockram.

In 1919 the parish spent quite a time deciding on a fitting memorial for those who lost their lives.

One was a stained glass window in St Mary's Church, Abbotsbury, the second an oak screen, which back in 1920 would have cost some £800, and the third, the eventual choice, the memorial cross. By donations the parishioners raised more than £250 of the £300 required.

The Bishop of Sherborne, the Rt Rev Maurice Key, dedicated the Second World War names on the memorial in June 1951. He had been the rector of the Highweek Parish from 1934 to 1940.