CALLS for a permanent memorial to Oswestry war poet Wilfred Owen are gathering pace after they were taken on by a former Porthywaen man.


Chris Baker is seeking support for a new town trail which would feature steel sculptures depicting the World War One poet’s work.
 

He has already passed his ideas onto the Wilfred Owen Association and Oswestry Town Council, but is now trying to garner the support of local businesses and members of the public.
 

Talk of a Wilfred Owen trail was initially put forward at the end of last year after the first Wilfred Owen day was held.
 

Mr Baker, 63, who now lives in Coventry, said the idea came after he visited Bristol where a gorilla sculpture trail has taken off, and Coventry where steel plates display information about the city’s former buildings.
 

He explained: “Wilfred Owen has never had the visible recognition within the town that his place in history and literature deserved.
“The Wilfred Owen Association say they are not in a financial position other than to clean the Broadwalk Memorial, but this is an opportunity for Oswestry to put itself on the map. If this idea takes off, then extrapolate, and create an Oswestry poetry town.”


Mr Baker said the local memorial was even more pressing after Tranmere Rovers Football Club received Government backing to pull down a Wilfred Owen memorial pavilion and field to make way for 90 houses. Wirral Council agreed planning permission in October last year.
 

But he also hoped local businesses and residents would take on this vision and help with funding and ideas to make it a reality, with the possibility of launching it to tie-in with the centenary of the start of the First World War.
 

“A lot of town councils are gearing up to mark 100 years since the start of World War One and I could see this working,” he added.
 

Oswestry Town Council are expected to discuss the plans at a forthcoming meeting.