A MAN who created a walking route to remember 13 villagers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the First World War has been awarded the British Empire Medal.

Hugh Maclean Vernon, 73, was named in the New Year's Honour List for services to the community.

It was for the role he played in setting up the Eardisland Memorial Walks, created to remember the lives of 13 men from the picturesque village near Leominster who died in the war between 1914 and 1918.

He was awarded the British Empire Medal in the list, which came as a surprise to Mr Vernon, who himself 22 was in the army.

"I did not expect it, I was quite surprised to say the least to receive an email from the Cabinet Office," he said.

"I could have refused it, but I thought it's not just me. There are other people who have put work into this in the Eardisland community, and elsewhere.

"In many respects, it's recognition of that, which is a good thing. It's also good for the project because that's what the project's aim is, to get out there what these 13 lads did from our community.

"So if that's the object, every opportunity I get to make that happen, we'll do it."

Mr Vernon, along with a number of other people, created the 13 routes to remember the Fallen.

The walks are based on routes the men would have used themselves before going to war.

He added: "What it entails is 13 walks named after a soldier who died in the First World War and whose name is inscribed on the war memorial in Eardisland.

"We started that up in about 2016, with the inspiration from a letter written to the Hereford Journal. A soldier wrote home from Egypt, he was serving in Egypt, and he wrote about the dust that was around him and compared it to the beauty of Herefordshire.

"It was quite moving, the language that he used, and speaking on his behalf and of his colonel, they were all Hereford boys, how wonderful it would be to wonder those paths again.

"I saw that as an opportunity to pay them respect. I'm into rights of way and so on and so forth, and people visiting Herefordshire, so I put together this project."

Mr Vernon said he had a lot of help with the project, including from researcher Graham Madeley.