A memorial bench has been installed in Llanidloes to mark the centenary since the end of World War One.

The steel bench - which is located near the war memorial next to the Town Hall - was funded by generous donations from the community to remember the men and women from the town and the surrounding area who served in conflicts.

The blessing and unveiling of the memorial bench was revealed after the laying of the wreaths had finished on Remembrance Sunday.

It was unveiled by the youngest and oldest members of the Women's Section of Llanidloes' Royal British Legion, Sarah Davies and 97-year-old Chris Powers.

County Times:

Janet Hipgrave, Joy Smout, Trudy Davies, Caroline Gough, Angela Morgan and Barbara Woosnam of The Royal British Legion Women's Section Llanidloes have instigated the 'Turn the Town Red for Remembrance' campaign. 

Standard bearer, Trudy Davies, dipped the standard as the bench was blessed by Rev Linda Cowan.

The bench was made by local welder Martin Crowther whose family business, Mid Wales Welded, has been based in Llanidloes for around 60 years.

Martin's family have close ties to The Royal British Legion including his mother Violet and his late sister-in-law Irene Crowther. He says it was an honour to be asked to make the bench.

"We're very pleased with ourselves and hopefully it will be appreciated for generations to come," he said.

"Llanidloes is a generous place where everyone gets together to do things like this for charity."

Father and daughter welding duo Lisa Crowther-James and Martin Crowther of Mid Wales Welding with the memorial bench.

The three armed forces - Navy, RAF and the Army - are commemorated on the bench, which was designed by Mark Sargeant of Llanidloes-based Bulk Automation, along with 11 red poppies and the inscriptions 'Lest We Forget' and 'Llanidloes'.

The idea started with a post on social media by town councillor Trudy Davies.

"I stuck a picture on Facebook and I just said 'ooh, isn't this nice' or something and then all of a sudden there were people saying 'I'll give you a donation'. It snowballed from there."

She said it was an emotional experience seeing the bench after it was completed.

"It's designed in Llani, made in Llani by a Llani lad. It's all very poignant and it seems to all come together."