Thieves stole Lanark memorial benches within days

Benches installed at Castlebank Park in memory of Margaret Wilson, a founder member of Lanark In Bloom and Lanark Gardening Club, were stolen within five days.

These two organisations, along with Lanark Community Development Trust, are working to restore the Lanark park to its former glory.

Lanark in Bloom and the Gardening Club found the money for two new public benches in the park as a lasting and useful tribute to Margaret Wilson, who died recently.

The benches were installed in the mid-terrace section of the park at the end of last month and within five days they had both been stolen.

Said Lanark In Bloom diehard Ernie Romer, who installed the benches personally: “I was gobsmacked when I was phoned by a member of the Gardening Club to ask if I had taken the benches away myself to put in storage to protect them from the weather.

“My heart sank when I got that call because I suspected right away what had really happened – they’d been stolen.

For more on this, pick up a copy of this week’s Carluke and Lanark Gazette.