Lewis war memorial turns red for Remembrance Day
The Lewis War Memorial turned red for this year’s Poppyscotland Light Up Red appeal, which was also being marked on the island by a projection of images of some of the islanders who made the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts.
Point and Sandwick Trust’s engineering consultant Tony Robson fitted red filters onto Comhairle nan Eilean Siar’s existing floodlights at the war memorial and arranged the slideshow projection, which was shown on the side of the Old Knock School in Point, where the community wind farm charity’s offices are located. The school was also partly lit by a red LED light.
The red lighting and the slideshow were visible during the hours of darkness over the weekend.
They were launched on Friday night and remained in place until Monday night. However, if there is enough interest the slideshow could be left in place throughout the coming week.
Beinn Ghrideag developer
Calum MacDonald said it was appropriate to light up the war memorial.
‘The war memorial is something we’ve all grown up with and sometimes we ignore it or forget about it but at this time it’s a really important and powerful monument. I think it should be the first building in our thoughts when we’re thinking about lighting up for poppy day,’ he said.
He also said it was appropriate to expand on the slideshow as this was about those who sacrificed in all the wars, adding: ‘All we can do is give an illustrative sample of photographs but I think it’s important to represent the widest range we can.’
The Light Up Red appeal officially ran from November 4 to 11 and was part of the wider Scottish Poppy Appeal, running up to Remembrance Day.