A PIECE of a village's history will be officially unveiled at a special ceremony next week.

It has been organised to mark the re-dedication of two war memorials close to the M65 in Guide.

Highways chiefs caused a storm of protest when they revealed the two war memorials would have to be moved to make way for the new motorway.

Residents staged several protests to save the memorials, built to honour 130 local men who served in two world wars.

The Government's Highways Agency came up with a compromise which meant the two stones had to go into storage for two years.

The two memorials have now been placed in a new position, several hundred yards from their original setting.

A special ceremony attended by Blackburn with Darwen mayor Florence Oldfield is planned for Tuesday.

The Rev Dick Cartmell, Vicar of of St James' Church in Lower Darwen, has been asked to carry out the ceremony.

Highways Agency engineer John Dutson said: "The first war memorial was installed at St James' Church School in the 1920s.

"After the school became a factory in the 1970s the stone was re-sited on land at Spring Farm, close to the village. The second memorial was placed there later.

"Because the site was in the direct path of the M65 the memorials were removed for safe storage.

"After many years in the open air they had become badly worn and weather stained, and the Highways Agency was happy to restore them before installing them in their new setting."

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