A heartfelt moment will help to honour fallen soldiers in the future.

A new memorial garden has been officially opened and the moment was honoured by words from the acting Mayor of Aspatria, Alan Maxwell.

The Mayor thanked Bobbie Monkhouse and her family for agreeing to open the Memorial Garden, Councillor Foy, who designed and oversaw the construction and Shane Buchanan the contractor helped to bring the garden together giving the town and family a special place to take solace.

Also in attendance were members of the Monkhouse family.

The memorial will remember Bobbie’s son, David, who was a Royal Dragoon Guardsman medic and was killed while on foot patrol in Helmand province, Afghanistan, 10 years ago.

The family had previously donated a wooden bench with a brass inscription plate to the park, but due to the ravages of the weather, it had rotted and was deemed unsafe.

However, the brass plaque was saved and was presented back to the family at the opening ceremony. A new stainless steel plaque commemorating Sgt. Monkhouse is attached to the plinth.

The garden was open on November 4 and only a few were able to attend the poignant moment to mark the life and service of the Guardsman.