On Sunday 10th May at 1100 hours a tribute to Lincoln’s engineering heritage will be unveiled on the Ropewalk Roundabout (Tritton Road) in Lincoln.
The Memorial is in the form of a partly constructed Mark 1 tank which was built by William Foster & Co Ltd at their factory close by, the first prototype tank being produced in 1915, with full production commencing in 1916.
The striking one and a half life size tank, which is made from Corten,has male and female Foster staff working on the tank along with the figures of Sir William Tritton, Major Walter Wilson and Mr William Rigby the designers, developers and manufactures of the tank.
The memorial is intended to also recognise the huge effort made by civilian men and women during both World Wars, when the majority of production from the many factories in the city was switched to war work. Without the invention of the Tank the first world war would have dragged on considerably longer costing many thousands more lives on both sides.
One of the main contractors for the memorial are Willmott Dixon Ltd who have been responsible for the considerable groundworks required for the memorials construction. David Reid at Willmott Dixon, said: “We are looking forward to seeing the Lincoln Tank Memorial take pride of place at Tritton Road this May.
“The installation is significant for Lincoln and its rich tank building heritage. We delivered the initial ground works on this project, and now we are working to pave the top surface of the plinth around the sculpture, in preparation for its arrival . We are so proud to have been involved in this project, which is a celebration of Lincoln’s history.”
Other contractors involved include the Rilmac Group, who have produced and erected the tank and the figures. Venture Signs, who are responsible for the lettering and plaques. Continental Landscapes, who will be landscaping the site and Coolair Logan, who made the set of plans at the front of the memorial.
Joe Cooke MBE, Chairman of The Lincoln Tank Memorial Group, said, “We would like to thank all the companies involved with the production of the memorial, many have donated their services free of charge or at a considerable discount which has helped us immeasurably with our fundraising.”
