World War One Memorial in Albert Schools, Marple

In February 2019, the Marple Website rescued a badly damaged World War One-era memorial plaque from an under-stair cupboard of the former Albert Schools building in Marple, shortly before this was due for demolition. The memorial and a second plaque commemorating Thomas and Hannah Carver were found to have originated from the Union Rooms (now the Regent Cinema in Marple), originally designed as a mission room by Thomas Carver in the late 1800s. It is known that the plaques were moved in 1931 to the Albert Schools (also built by the Carvers) when the Union Rooms were sold to become a cinema. They may have been placed under the stairs immediately, or possibly were on display until some time before the Albert Schools building was sold for commercial use in the late 1950s. The Marple Website funded and carried out refurbishment of both plaques, before arranging for their permanent relocation at the entrance foyer of the United Reformed Church on Hibbert Lane in Marple (another site built by Thomas Carver). Installation was completed in November 2020, with the photograph showing the restored World War One memorial.