BEST WAR MEMORIAL

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 BIRSE WAR MEMORIAL,
Finzean, Aberdeenshire

Finzean war memorial is most striking when driving east along the South Deeside Road. Just past the village of Finzean, the road rises to the summit of Corsedardar hill and the sight of the granite memorial, set against the backdrop of the Grampian mountains and the distinctive rocky tor on Clachnaben.
Surely a fitting reminder of the sacrifices made by so many.

 EDZELL WAR MEMORIAL,
Angus

The striking grey needle in the Angus village of Edzell lies on the wide and attractive High Street amid beautifully kept gardens. 

"We owe more tears to these dead men than time shall see us pay,"

reads the inscription , which is undoubtedly treated with the respect that those for whom it was erected deserve.

 TOBERMORY WAR MEMORIAL,
Isle of Mull

The memorial in Tobermory is at the top of the hill above the town. Although the spire is striking in itself, the view from the hilltop, taking in Tobermory harbour and the Sound of Mull, lends it a divine majesty that pulls at the heartstrings.

 ST ANDREWS WAR MEMORIAL,
Fife

The distinguished war memorial in Scotland's ancient religious capital lies at the end of North Street, between the attractive stone university buildings and the ruined cathedral. It is somehow a fitting location for a memorial in a town so marked by the effects of learning and war.

 WAR MEMORIAL
 Barra

Sited on the road to Vatersay at the crest of the hill overlooking Castlebay and the islands to the south of Barra, this memorial is strikingly modern, erected in 1993. It was raised to rectify the omission of the names of the men of Barra from a stained glass memorial window in the church of Our Lady Star of the Sea, in Castlebay.

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The following are from readers

The most evocative war memorial is the one in HALKIRK, Caithness.
It stands above the river and is, in white marble,
 in the shape of a grieving widow comforting her orphaned child.
James Henderson, Dunbar.

A lot depends on your definition of "best" when applied to a war memorial, but for me the best by any definition must be the one in LEITH. The public subscription after the Great War was at first hoped to be enuogh to finance a children's ward in the hospital. When the word went round about the proposal, the response was so big that there was enough to build the children's wing. I well remember Boys Brigade parades on Armistice sunday in Taylor gardens with the simple bronze plaques at the centre of attention. Now that has to be up there with the best. Pity it is now just some more houses without any real indication as to the true reason for, and origional purpose of, the building.
 I  wonder where the plaques are now?
 My father must be birling in his grave.
Harry Hunter
(now in Kirkcaldy, but still a Leither)

I guess, for most people,
 their "best" war memorial will be the one in their home town.
 So I'd put forward the war memorial on Cawder Street, in NAIRN.
Peter

As you cross the River Esk in MUSSELBURGH, you come to the town's war memorial at the head of the High Street. The large column - with its pointed top and sculptured base - has a very touching inscription:
 "We gave our today for your tomorrow"
 The flower beds around the memorial
 - and those along the side of the river itself -
are always well-kept:
 a fitting tribute
Craig, Musselburgh

These  recommendations are a selection of items from one of Scotland's national papers,
 along with suggestions and comments
 from the paper's readers.

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