GROUNDS staff at a cemetery have created a floral tribute to mark the centenary of the First World War.

The team at Macclesfield Cemetery on Prestbury Road built a poignant tribute from carpet bedding.

The plan is to maintain the commemoration for the next four years and for it to become a permanent feature of the cemetery.

Councillor Lesley Smetham, deputy chairman of Orbitas, an arms-length company owned by Cheshire East Council said: “The centenary of World War One is a major event for all of us, it is extremely important that we take time to remember those soldiers and their families and to commemorate the anniversary of the conflict in an appropriate and thoughtful way.

“I believe that this floral tribute, which has been constructed by the staff at Macclesfield cemetery, will serve as a reminder of the thousands who fought in the First World War.”

There are 50 First World War graves at Macclesfield Cemetery registered with the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC).

Among them is Francis Walton, who was the son of the landlord of the Bull and Gate pub, on Chestergate, who was the first victim of the First World War to be buried in Macclesfield. A talented writer, his letters home were printed in the local press, under the pseudonym “Peeping Tom”.

He died at Gallipoli as part of the Cheshire Regiment’s 7th Battalion, from a shrapnel shell.

Charles McKay – a leading boy chorister at Macclesfield Parish Church – survived a bullet and frostbite while in the Cheshire Regiment in India before the war.

But after war broke out, he was killed, aged 29, at Maissemy while taking a wagon of supplies up to the front line trenches.

Anthony Gosling, team leader at Orbitas, said: “This has been a team effort, and is the first time that we have carried out such a project in the cemetery. I hope the public think we have done a good job and that the tribute is fitting.”

Orbitas is wholly-owned by Cheshire East but run on a day-to-day basis by its own board and management.

The group aims to encourage innovation and entrepreneurialism, improve services and save money.