Remembrance Sunday and Armistice Day

Last Sunday (9 November), as Chairman of the Parish Council I laid a wreath at the War Memorial outside St Andrew's Church on behalf of the residents of the parish. There was a crowd of about 200 at the War Memorial, and even more at the church service which followed.

As well as laying a wreath I also read the poem "In Flanders Fields", something I found very emotional. Many of you will know that it was written by a Canadian doctor, Lt-Col John McCrae. He was inspired to write it in May 1915 after presiding over the funeral of his friend and fellow soldier Alexis Helmer, who died in the Second Battle of Ypres. It is said that after reading out the poem John McCrae did not think it was good enough and threw it away. Thankfully his men retrieved it so it can still be read all over the world at the time of remembrance.

This year's commemoration was especially significant of course because it marks the centenary of the start of World War I.

I hope everyone noticed that the memorial has been cleaned, thanks to the generosity of Jacqueline Wilson Independent Funeral Services. On the Sunday it was wonderful to see so many young people, members of the Scout and Guide uniformed organisations, place their crosses.
The Church had provided a ramp to allow wheelchair access to the War Memorial and this was used by several people.

On Tuesday 11 November, in rather poorer weather, there was another, shorter, ceremony at the War Memorial. This was attended by a smaller number of residents but it did include a group from Tarvin Primary School. It occurred to me as I introduced "In Flanders Fields" that its having been written 99 years ago might seem unimaginable to the children, so to put it in context I said that, as we are all now living longer, many of them might live to be 99. I am not sure if this was a helpful, or just a confusing, thing to say but it certainly made me think.