Denis has long been interested in military matters. However, it was only after retiring from business, when he joined the War Memorials Trust (WMT) as a regional volunteer and also became a recorder for the National Inventory of War Memorials, that his interest became focussed on this particular aspect of military history.
He was horrified at the risk posed to memorials in St Saviour’s Church, Leicester in particular. A concern that was very well justified when the building was comprehensively vandalised and nearly all the memorials stolen. Fortunately, thanks to Denis and Chris’s foresight, all of the memorials had been permanently recorded on film.
With his WMT colleague Chris Stephens, who had for many years been active in keeping an eye on the problem and where possible dealing with it, they were resolved to do something structured about this threat and came up with the idea of a “sanctuary” for memorials at risk.
After many hours of discussion with personnel from Heritage Lottery Fund and Churches Conservation Trust, the Project was formally born, funds were granted, a base was found at All Saint’s Church, Highcross Street, Leicester and a team of willing volunteer experts was gathered together. The Project was on the road!
