Buxton’s Battle of Somme heroes honoured in loco naming

COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

With 2016 marking the continuation of the World War I centenary commemorations, sites right across the business have helped communities remember important events throughout the year. We named a Freightliner class 66 diesel locomotive “Poppy” in memory of 15 workers from Buxton Lime Firms (now Tarmac) who served and died in the Battle of Somme. A naming ceremony at our Tunstead Quarry was attended by more than 50 people, including Andrew Bingham, MP for High Peak and members of The Royal British Legion who officially unveiled the engine.

Inspiration for the locomotive name was taken from a large copper poppy sculpture produced earlier this year by three of our apprentices based at Buxton to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Battle of the Somme. An aluminium cast of the sculpture, which was made using 1916 manufacturing processes and features the name of the workers who lost their lives in the battle, was fitted to the side of ”Poppy” as a lasting tribute.

Commenting on the event, Viv Russell, lime and powders director at Tunstead, said: “Tunstead has been a proud member of the local community for more than a century. We were really pleased to celebrate our local heritage and commemorate the bravery of those men who fought and died in the Battle of the Somme with a fitting tribute.

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