I wasn't quite sure, when he left the pitch, whether the boos were for him or for the Aussie who'd taken him out. Undeserved IMO if for him, as his catching, running and kicking in play had been excellent.
It's a beautiful, but v. cold day here; I feel quite sorry for the people who had to be at the Cenotaph for Remembrance Day.
Because Armistice Day fell on a Sunday this year (and the Cenotaph here is right over the road from the Cathedral), rather than having an act of remembrance during the service*, we had the service at 9:45 instead of 10:00 so that we'd be finished before the Cenotaph ceremonies, and if people from the Cathedral wanted to go, they could. I stood on the Cathedral steps as they observed the two minutes' silence and fired off their guns; and at 5 o'clock ("the going down of the sun"), D. is going to go in and ring the Cathedral bell 100 times to mark the centenary.
* The Cenotaph ceremonies here are held on the actual 11th, which is a public holiday.
Went to the village war memorial for centenary commemoration before driving into town for our own church service. 2 members of the youth group were baptised in the service.
Usual casual Sunday lunch of bread and cheese (we get back about 2 pm so too late to cook a roast).
A very sparsely-attended 'Armistice Day' service here, making me wonder if it's time to knock the whole thing on the head, at least church-wise (see the 'Remembrance' thread in Purg).
Not a bad day for outside stuff, though - early ra*n, followed by clearer, sunnier weather from about 10am onwards.
Ah well - Tomato SOUP for tea later, probably with a nice Melton Mowbray Pork PIE to accompany it.
A very sparsely-attended 'Armistice Day' service here, making me wonder if it's time to knock the whole thing on the head, at least church-wise .
Was there a "public" event at the local War Memorial? If so, did they go there? And does that mean we should do "something different" to mark Remembrance inside churches?
I wasn't quite sure, when he left the pitch, whether the boos were for him or for the Aussie who'd taken him out. Undeserved IMO if for him, as his catching, running and kicking in play had been excellent.
I'm pretty sure they were for that Aussie - how he got away with that, I just don;t know!
A very sparsely-attended 'Armistice Day' service here, making me wonder if it's time to knock the whole thing on the head, at least church-wise .
Was there a "public" event at the local War Memorial? If so, did they go there? And does that mean we should do "something different" to mark Remembrance inside churches?
There was certainly a public event of some sort, yes - I heard a gun go off at 11am, and again at 1102 am (we didn't quite manage to co-ordinate our times, owing to a great deal of Faffing About in the vestry before the service).
And yes, as I said, I do wonder if the time has come to do 'something different' church-wise. Not sure what, though.....
Loads of people at our village memorial, more than I’ve seen before. Probably about 100. Our parish church had a formal procession with the cross from the church to the memorial where they joined everyone there, including the local community church.
Huge procession, led by pipe and drum band, to a public service at the war memorial in the afternoon, bigger than I've usually seen it, with the world and its dog laying wreaths, names read for WW2, Afghanistan but not WW1, Last Post, lowered flags, 2 minute silence (except for the junior footballers), and march off led by a pipe and drum band, followed by procession into church service.
I didn't get to the church service, but know there was to be a candle lit and held by a young person for every person who died in WW1.
Pretty normal attendance at Mass. We didn't do much special, although the Children's Lit (Sunday School) attendees did discuss it. Instead of the bidding prayers though, one older parishioner read a poem about the war dead. Her late husband's best friend died in WWII, so in recent years she does something similar.
We're a modern build church and don't have bells, but at 11am we had the 2 minute silence in the parish centre with a parishioner ringing the handbells we use during the Eucharistic prayer (whose proper name escapes me).
I missed church this morning (shock horror) to go to folk orchestra rehearsal where we observed the 2 minute silence and then played a beautiful piece written by a young soldier in memory of his friends who died at the Battle of the Somme.
I wonder if the lower attendance at church services has anything to do with the civic ceremonies being a bigger thing because of the centenary, combined with the 11th actually falling on a Sunday?
I reckon we had a slightly smaller congregation than usual at our place, although that could have been down to people assuming they wouldn't be able to park anywhere near the Cathedral because of the crowds at the Cenotaph.
Did any of you see any of Danny Boyle's beach portraits commemorating WWI? I read on Facebook that the Orkney one, at Scapa, drew a crowd of over a thousand, and possibly nearer two, which is quite a chunk of the Kirkwall population.
Quite a big crowd for our little place. The War Memorial is in the churchyard, so that's where the act of remembrance took place after the service. A ceramic poppy and candle for each name on the War Memorial. Many in the congregation share names with those remembered as the families still live in the village, and a descendant of one read the 'They shall grow not old'. A soldier laid one of the wreaths. A small exhibition of photos and memorabilia was set out in the church.
In the afternoon - the jolly bit after the sober - there was a tea party organised bt the British Legion for a couple of the villages and a singing group of which Macarius is a member sang First World War songs. Very, very full for a small village hall. I have to say, the spread was incredible -I've never seen such wonderful cakes! I did my best, but didn't manage the 6 a friend had.
Sadly, we had to miss the lighting of the beacon as we had something else to get to.
Very traditional and I think very special as so many families remain in the village.
And the sand portraits were incredible, I'd loved to have seen one in real life.
I wonder if the lower attendance at church services has anything to do with the civic ceremonies being a bigger thing because of the centenary, combined with the 11th actually falling on a Sunday?
I reckon we had a slightly smaller congregation than usual at our place, although that could have been down to people assuming they wouldn't be able to park anywhere near the Cathedral because of the crowds at the Cenotaph.
Did any of you see any of Danny Boyle's beach portraits commemorating WWI? I read on Facebook that the Orkney one, at Scapa, drew a crowd of over a thousand, and possibly nearer two, which is quite a chunk of the Kirkwall population.
I think Piglet may be correct re the lower church attendances, where the usual service clashed with a civic ceremony. The Day being a Sunday this year did make a difference, I think.
A few more in church, but probably over 100 at the cenotaph - including our MP - which is in the church grounds. There was a reception in the church hall to follow.
The sad thing was that there was no music - the bugle calls were provided by Darllenwr who had downloaded them off the British Legion website.
As we got home early, and it had turned into a beautiful Autumn day, (unlike the torrential rain around 11!) we went down the Wye valley to see the Autumn colours. We passed through several villages with armistice displays, and I found myself thinking how alien it must have been for the soldiers in the mud and destruction of the battlefields.
I'm also found myself wondering what happened in the front lines at 11.00 on the 11/11/18?
Good question! Was that the time at which orders began to be sent out to stop firing? I guess there must be records of any poor souls who were actually killed or injured after that....
Another lovely morning of sunshine, showers, and rainbow - my train journey to yet more tests (involving NEED**S) at King's College Hospital was made enjoyable by the sunshine on the still-vibrant autumn colours of the trees.
For the longest time the Last Post was played in Kirkwall by the band-master of the local Salvation Army; he gave it up a few years ago when he turned 80. I understand the task has been taken over by his niece or grand-daughter (can't remember which - the family is the mainstay of the Sally Annes in Orkney, and at one time I think there may have been four generations in the band!).
A member of our congregation was a bandsman (trumpeter) in the Army in the 1970s (he's now nearly 60), serving in Germany, and in Northern Ireland.
He did, at one time, provide us with excellent renditions of 'Last Post' and 'Reveille', but, more recently, has felt increasingly unable (physically and mentally) to oblige.
He was involved in the aftermath of the Warrenpoint Massacre in 1979, so perhaps I need say no more, other than to remark that memories do not necessarily fade away with time....
He was (bless him!) in church on Remembrance Sunday, but, unusually, forebore to wear his IMNSHO well-earned medals. Make of that what you will.
Good question! Was that the time at which orders began to be sent out to stop firing? I guess there must be records of any poor souls who were actually killed or injured after that....
There was advance notice given to the troops. Most brigades did not fire that day, though a few terrible leaders did decide to seek some last minute glory despite knowing that peace was about to fall.
The last Brit to fall was 90 mins before armistice https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Edwin_Ellison
...and the last allied soldier to die in the actual fighting was in an attack *launched* at 10.58. Who knows on the other side - some artillery batteries were firing for a couple of hours afterwards, having not got the message.
And, of course, men continued to die of wounds and disease, accidents... Not in anywhere like the same numbers but the Commonwealth War Graves Commision takes the cut-off as to be somewhere around 1921. And fighting continued in what is now Afghanistan, and against the Bolsheviks in Russia as well.
Here on the northern fringes of the cattle crossing we rang with the bells open for 10am service, fully muffled for the remembrance service, and half-muffled at 12.50. It's almost certainly the first time the tower has seen all three forms of ringing - fully muffled is usually rung only for the death of a monarch, and there haven't been many of those lately.
Every summer I take part in a WW1 re-enactment at Kentwell Hall. It is held on the first August weekend, which used to be the August bank holiday. We’ve been working our way through the war (not sure yet what year we will do next year now the centenary is done). I am a Red Cross nursing sister, home on leave from a clearing station in France (Irl I’m a nurse lecturer with a history degree). I discuss wounds, treatments, death and so on; I’ve had to read up on the advancements year by year, including which gas we are being attacked with currently and it’s symptoms, how it kills you differently to the last one. But I also speak of compassion and loving care, and of the ward sisters writing to the wives and mothers to let them know how their loved one died and how someone was caring for them at that time.
At a memorial service after the Virginia Tech shootings, two buglers played Echo Taps. They were at two different ends of the field. One played the first phrase, then the other played the same phrase, and so on.
In our little French village, we gathered outside the Mairie at 10.45. At 11.00 the church bells started ringing, and continued to do so for 11 minutes. During this time we processed to the war memorial: first the veterans of Algeria, with thier flags, plus a younger woman carrying a flag (perhaps in memory of her father?). Then the Pompiers, with their helmets, and a couple of representatives of the Gendarmerie. Then the school children, and then the public.
The ceremony at the memorial involved a reading of a speech from the President, plus the youngsters reading out the names of all those remembered on the memorial. There was a laying of wreaths, a minute's silence, and a speech by the Mayor. Some children read poems they'd written and there was a performance of the Marseillaise by the school choir (I did feel it was a bit ironic to be singing "To arms, citizens,
Form your battalions,
Let's march, let's march!
Let an impure blood
Water our furrows!" on Armistice Day, but never mind...Let's not be churlish...)
After this we trooped back to the Mairie where the local choir sang jaunty songs from the period, and the school children "planted" doves of peace in the nearest municipal flower beds. Finally (and not very environmentally sound, but quite moving) the children set off balloons - red, white & blue of course - each with a label attached with the name of one of those from the commune who did not return.
There was a vin d'honneur at the Mairie too, but Mr D wanted to go for a cycle ride in the afternoon, and was champing at the bit for his bacon sandwich!
I confess I don't really mind GSTQ as long as they leave out the verse about the rebellious Scots ...
It's been a very indoor sort of day today: it was sn*wing when I woke up and hasn't really stopped (although it's turning to rain now). We've probably got about four inches of the stuff: enough that the sn*w-shovel and car scraper have been dug out of the shed.
The forecast for the next few days is Not Good: plummeting temperatures, so little chance of the snow we have going away, and then more forecast for Friday.
It's very depressing to think that this might be the onset of proper winter*, and it could last until April.
* At least last year it had the decency to wait until December.
Lovely and sunny here, a nice clear day. I’ve already been to Waitrose and the post office as I needed to pick up euros for my son’s school trip to the WW1 battlefields tomorrow and I’ve bought him lots of junk for a midnight feast.
Now I’m taking a quick break before several hours of marking essays.
Which explains why he’s been so extraordinarily cantankerous the last few days. Apparently if adults were in as much pain as teething babies, we’d be demanding morphine. Presumably he’s going to have more than one, so more teeth and cantankerousness are on the horizon.
It's been a very indoor sort of day today: it was sn*wing when I woke up and hasn't really stopped (although it's turning to rain now). We've probably got about four inches of the stuff: enough that the sn*w-shovel and car scraper have been dug out of the shed.
It doesn't sound good that you have to dig the snow shovel out. What do you use?
Ours was very sparsely attended too - half the usual number. I think most of them were in town at the cenotaph.
I was at a church I don't normally go to, in a larger city, and I suspect this too as it was poorly attended (I've only been to that church before in mid-summer and there were more then).
It's been a very indoor sort of day today: it was sn*wing when I woke up and hasn't really stopped (although it's turning to rain now). We've probably got about four inches of the stuff: enough that the sn*w-shovel and car scraper have been dug out of the shed.
It doesn't sound good that you have to dig the snow shovel out. What do you use?
It's very cold today - it hasn't got above -8°- and it's due to go down to -15° with a wind-chill of -27° overnight
It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since you were basking in heat, what a shock to the system. On Saturday I was hailed on at the allotment, but the warmer-than-usual weather returned the same hour. Possibly preparing us for the forecast chill next week
Yesterday I ushered for SIX - the musical, a really vibrant, lively show. Lucy Worsley meets the Spice Girls. Word must have got out because the audience was mainly youngish women having a brilliant time, but a few much older folk left at the end of the show looking a bit shell shocked, so I suspect it wasn’t quite what they expected.
It's very cold today - it hasn't got above -8°- and it's due to go down to -15° with a wind-chill of -27° overnight
It doesn’t seem 5 minutes since you were basking in heat ...
Indeed - we were still getting temperatures in the mid-20s in October, and it seems as if the lovely "Goldilocks" season when we needed neither cooling or heating was painfully short.
We've now got a snowfall warning for tomorrow (up to 6"), which will be a bummer if (a) nobody turns up at D's organ recital*; or worse, (b) we get sufficient snow that we can't get there.
Someone's going to ask, so it might as well be Me.
Do you perchance doctor your cocoa with GIN?
Enquiring minds need to know.....
(BTW, if you do, it sounds like a Good Idea. Please to send some via cyberspace immediately, but, preferably, without the cocoa. The weather here is Dull, Dreich, and Dismal. Thx.)
Comments
It's a beautiful, but v. cold day here; I feel quite sorry for the people who had to be at the Cenotaph for Remembrance Day.
Because Armistice Day fell on a Sunday this year (and the Cenotaph here is right over the road from the Cathedral), rather than having an act of remembrance during the service*, we had the service at 9:45 instead of 10:00 so that we'd be finished before the Cenotaph ceremonies, and if people from the Cathedral wanted to go, they could. I stood on the Cathedral steps as they observed the two minutes' silence and fired off their guns; and at 5 o'clock ("the going down of the sun"), D. is going to go in and ring the Cathedral bell 100 times to mark the centenary.
* The Cenotaph ceremonies here are held on the actual 11th, which is a public holiday.
Usual casual Sunday lunch of bread and cheese (we get back about 2 pm so too late to cook a roast).
Not a bad day for outside stuff, though - early ra*n, followed by clearer, sunnier weather from about 10am onwards.
Ah well - Tomato SOUP for tea later, probably with a nice Melton Mowbray Pork PIE to accompany it.
I'm pretty sure they were for that Aussie - how he got away with that, I just don;t know!
There was certainly a public event of some sort, yes - I heard a gun go off at 11am, and again at 1102 am (we didn't quite manage to co-ordinate our times, owing to a great deal of Faffing About in the vestry before the service).
And yes, as I said, I do wonder if the time has come to do 'something different' church-wise. Not sure what, though.....
Midlands? Foreign? Not from where I'm sat in my Midlands city!
I didn't get to the church service, but know there was to be a candle lit and held by a young person for every person who died in WW1.
We're a modern build church and don't have bells, but at 11am we had the 2 minute silence in the parish centre with a parishioner ringing the handbells we use during the Eucharistic prayer (whose proper name escapes me).
I reckon we had a slightly smaller congregation than usual at our place, although that could have been down to people assuming they wouldn't be able to park anywhere near the Cathedral because of the crowds at the Cenotaph.
Did any of you see any of Danny Boyle's beach portraits commemorating WWI? I read on Facebook that the Orkney one, at Scapa, drew a crowd of over a thousand, and possibly nearer two, which is quite a chunk of the Kirkwall population.
In the afternoon - the jolly bit after the sober - there was a tea party organised bt the British Legion for a couple of the villages and a singing group of which Macarius is a member sang First World War songs. Very, very full for a small village hall. I have to say, the spread was incredible -I've never seen such wonderful cakes! I did my best, but didn't manage the 6 a friend had.
Sadly, we had to miss the lighting of the beacon as we had something else to get to.
Very traditional and I think very special as so many families remain in the village.
And the sand portraits were incredible, I'd loved to have seen one in real life.
MMM
I think Piglet may be correct re the lower church attendances, where the usual service clashed with a civic ceremony. The Day being a Sunday this year did make a difference, I think.
Yes, the beach portraits were indeed amazing!
The sad thing was that there was no music - the bugle calls were provided by Darllenwr who had downloaded them off the British Legion website.
As we got home early, and it had turned into a beautiful Autumn day, (unlike the torrential rain around 11!) we went down the Wye valley to see the Autumn colours. We passed through several villages with armistice displays, and I found myself thinking how alien it must have been for the soldiers in the mud and destruction of the battlefields.
I'm also found myself wondering what happened in the front lines at 11.00 on the 11/11/18?
Another lovely morning of sunshine, showers, and rainbow - my train journey to yet more tests (involving NEED**S) at King's College Hospital was made enjoyable by the sunshine on the still-vibrant autumn colours of the trees.
Cloudy now, though.
Chicken Kievs and New Potatoes for tea!
He did, at one time, provide us with excellent renditions of 'Last Post' and 'Reveille', but, more recently, has felt increasingly unable (physically and mentally) to oblige.
He was involved in the aftermath of the Warrenpoint Massacre in 1979, so perhaps I need say no more, other than to remark that memories do not necessarily fade away with time....
He was (bless him!) in church on Remembrance Sunday, but, unusually, forebore to wear his IMNSHO well-earned medals. Make of that what you will.
There was advance notice given to the troops. Most brigades did not fire that day, though a few terrible leaders did decide to seek some last minute glory despite knowing that peace was about to fall.
The last Brit to fall was 90 mins before armistice https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Edwin_Ellison
And, of course, men continued to die of wounds and disease, accidents... Not in anywhere like the same numbers but the Commonwealth War Graves Commision takes the cut-off as to be somewhere around 1921. And fighting continued in what is now Afghanistan, and against the Bolsheviks in Russia as well.
Here on the northern fringes of the cattle crossing we rang with the bells open for 10am service, fully muffled for the remembrance service, and half-muffled at 12.50. It's almost certainly the first time the tower has seen all three forms of ringing - fully muffled is usually rung only for the death of a monarch, and there haven't been many of those lately.
AG
It tore me apart.
But when I re-read what you had posted I was quite moved.
The ceremony at the memorial involved a reading of a speech from the President, plus the youngsters reading out the names of all those remembered on the memorial. There was a laying of wreaths, a minute's silence, and a speech by the Mayor. Some children read poems they'd written and there was a performance of the Marseillaise by the school choir (I did feel it was a bit ironic to be singing "To arms, citizens,
Form your battalions,
Let's march, let's march!
Let an impure blood
Water our furrows!" on Armistice Day, but never mind...Let's not be churlish...)
After this we trooped back to the Mairie where the local choir sang jaunty songs from the period, and the school children "planted" doves of peace in the nearest municipal flower beds. Finally (and not very environmentally sound, but quite moving) the children set off balloons - red, white & blue of course - each with a label attached with the name of one of those from the commune who did not return.
There was a vin d'honneur at the Mairie too, but Mr D wanted to go for a cycle ride in the afternoon, and was champing at the bit for his bacon sandwich!
(A Jolly Good Tune, though).
It doesn't seem to be a call to protect the monarchy, establishment, or those egregious Polly Titians......
https://youtube.com/watch?v=4K1q9Ntcr5g
Good tune, though, as I said. Much racier than that dreary God Save The Queen tripe.
I'll get me epaulettes and tri-couleur. Where's the sortie?
It's been a very indoor sort of day today: it was sn*wing when I woke up and hasn't really stopped (although it's turning to rain now). We've probably got about four inches of the stuff: enough that the sn*w-shovel and car scraper have been dug out of the shed.
The forecast for the next few days is Not Good: plummeting temperatures, so little chance of the snow we have going away, and then more forecast for Friday.
It's very depressing to think that this might be the onset of proper winter*, and it could last until April.
* At least last year it had the decency to wait until December.
Now I’m taking a quick break before several hours of marking essays.
Which explains why he’s been so extraordinarily cantankerous the last few days. Apparently if adults were in as much pain as teething babies, we’d be demanding morphine. Presumably he’s going to have more than one, so more teeth and cantankerousness are on the horizon.
It doesn't sound good that you have to dig the snow shovel out. What do you use?
I was at a church I don't normally go to, in a larger city, and I suspect this too as it was poorly attended (I've only been to that church before in mid-summer and there were more then).
Yes, I wondered, too....D., I suspect....
It's very cold today - it hasn't got above -8°- and it's due to go down to -15° with a wind-chill of -27° overnight.
Brrrrr!!!!
Hurrah for Baby en rouge's new tooth - entrecôte au poivre et frites* will soon be beckoning!
* steak and chips
Yesterday I ushered for SIX - the musical, a really vibrant, lively show. Lucy Worsley meets the Spice Girls. Word must have got out because the audience was mainly youngish women having a brilliant time, but a few much older folk left at the end of the show looking a bit shell shocked, so I suspect it wasn’t quite what they expected.
I'll lock meself in me shed.
ION, another mild, cloudy day here is now becoming foggy, so by the morning the Palace may well be invisible to the Outside World.
Colder weather predicted for next week, but still nicely autumnal.
We've now got a snowfall warning for tomorrow (up to 6"), which will be a bummer if (a) nobody turns up at D's organ recital*; or worse, (b) we get sufficient snow that we can't get there.
* He gets the takings, but only if there are any.
Do you perchance doctor your cocoa with GIN?
Enquiring minds need to know.....
(BTW, if you do, it sounds like a Good Idea. Please to send some via cyberspace immediately, but, preferably, without the cocoa. The weather here is Dull, Dreich, and Dismal. Thx.)