THE Review story about Chepstow's difficulties in restoring its historic war memorial has had a happy ending thanks to a Forest firm's generosity – and grapefruit seeds!
Chepstow needed to find some way of removing a build-up of moss, algae and mould on the roll of honour without harming the stonework of the Cadw listed monument.
"The words 'Lest we forget' were more in danger of not being seen at all," said Town Clerk Sandra Bushell.
"Apparently most cleaning materials were too corrosive for the job."
But the story came to the attention of Forest industrial cleaning specialists Markerfold Ltd of Sling, and when the town turned out on Sunday to honour its heroes the memorial was sparkling clean – and unharmed.
"We were able to offer our services gratis to the council because it is part of our job to develop non-harmful strategies for many of the chemical solutions in use," said Markerfold's Bernard Stokes.
"Cadw were particularly anxious about Ph levels and we developed a synthetic agent based on grapefruit seeds to do the job.
"It's innocuous but it is particularly effective in removing mould and moss and giving protection for as long as 12 months."
Mr Stokes said there was much more emphasis these days on finding non-hazardous solutions to cleaning problems where corrosive substances were traditionally used, and Markerfold were doing a lot of work in this field.
In particular the Health and Safety Executive was insisting on the least hazardous strategy being used, and although this might at times be slightly more expensive it was very much the direction things were moving towards.
The last word came from the council. "We're delighted," said Mrs Bushell.