It was icers for Billy, John and Iain this weekend as they headed for RM Condor, the home of the 45 Commando Group, to carry out repairs to the whin stone wall within the Woodlands Garden.
Opened in November, 2011 by the Royal Marines of 45 Commando, the Woodlands Garden is a living memorial to all men from the unit lost since it moved to Arbroath in 1971. The garden was designed by BBC celebrity gardener Toby Buckland around the Globe and Laurel emblem central to the Royal Marines ethos.Surrounding the garden are 5 massive rocks, each shipped at great effort from the lands where 45 commando men have fallen: Northern Ireland, the Falklands, Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan. The centre piece is an eight-tonne granite memorial stone bearing the names of the men of 45 Commando who have died whilst in the service of the unit since it moved to Arbroath in 1971.
And sheltering in the glass house from a wee bit of snow was our intrepid wallers. Sadly, despite the promise of Spring we had last weekend, we're back to wintery conditions in the North East of Scotland.
The wall we're repairing is a low retaining whin stone wall which encircles the garden and continues the stone theme. Photos were unfortunately minimal for the day due to the bad weather, but after a hot wet or two, Billy, John and Iain were able to make good progress on the repairs and we're looking forwards to returning to RM Condor in the future.Y ou can find more information on the Woodland Garden at RM Condor over on www.royalnavy.mod.uk