This garden was conceived by Neil Wilson with final design by Ken Nicol, Secretary of the IBB-IJLB Association. Its construction was carried out by association members living within the local area.

The garden stands to the honour and memory of Neil Wilson, a kind and much respected member, who sadly passed away recently.

Prior to his death and at his own initiative, Neil, a keen gardener, negotiated with Oswestry Rugby Club to use this little corner of their ground where the IJLB armoury had once stood. He wanted it to bcome a quiet space for the many former Junior Leaders who now pass through Park Hall unannounced and without ceremony, to rest and remember the years of their youth spent in this place. 

Created among well established trees, the garden is in a prominent position on Burma Road, opposite what once was the road to ‘Z’ Company, Wingate Square and the Garrison Church. These places are long gone and sheep now graze on green fields but many years ago, every one of us, as raw 15 year old recruits, marched past this corner countless times on our way to or from the cookhouse; KFS tucked neatly behind our backs.

As the two years of training progressed, we all marched, doubled or limped back from whatever adventure we'd taken part in, to hand in our weapons. We handed them in at this very spot and if you take the time to stop, sit and recall, you can almost hear the heels of our boots hitting the tarmac in unison, the words of command from across the square and the banter of thousands of young boys, now men. If you try hard enough, you can almost see the ethereal shapes of these boys who passed through this place as members of the Infantry Junior Leaders Battalion on the way to their regiments; you can almost touch these ghosts of the past.

This garden is a great idea and those who made the effort to fund and construct it are to be congratulated. The location is perfect, the design kept very basic and there are lots of mature trees to give immediate shape and form. By their nature, gardens evolve and change with the years and this space will hopefully evolve, change and mature with time.

The garden is an ongoing project and if you would like to donate , please contact Ken Nicol by email: KnnthNic@aol.com

NEIL WILSON

Having joined IJLB Oswestry in 1967 Neil Wilson passed out to the Royal Welch Fusiliers in 1969 and said, when he registered with IJLB.com: ' I loved my time at Park Hall, great mates, real characters, especially the permanent staff'. 

Neil served for 5 years with his regiment, mostly with the Signals Platoon and ended his army days as a Lance Corporal with an exemplary record and a well deserved GSM for service in Northern Ireland. In fact, it was during a tour there that he was injured in a bomb blast and as a result of this he wore a hearing aid. In the year 2000, the many injuries he suffered in the blast caught up with him and his wife Linda saved his life by giving one of her kidneys.  

Having met Linda, a local girl, at the 54 Club, Neil returned to Oswestry as a civilian where he first joined the Electricity Board, moving on to work as a builder in West Germany. He later became a postman, but gardening was his passion and in the year prior to his death, like many of us he was recalling his youth and made the effort to negotiate with the Rugby Club to begin work on the garden we now see completed by members of the IBB-IJLB Association.

Like many of us, Neil was proud of his beginnings as a Junior Leader, and in his later years he was proud too, to be the standard bearer in Oswestry on ceremonial occasions for the Royal Welch Fusiliers.

 

Words by Ken Wharton - Author of: A Long Long War, Bombs Bullets and Cups of Tea and Bloody Belfast.

Pictures by Mike Day

Copyright free for any use.