Robert Laurence Binyon

John Keats

It is ten years since my previous visit to the National Memorial Arboretum. The Memorial Arboretum is still as peaceful and moving as I remembered. There are now over 400 memorials so it is impossible to see them all during one visit.

This year this the 80^th anniversary of the D-Day landings so the Arboretum is exploring the events of WWII and people that were affected by them.

We chose this as the theme for our visit whereas our previous visit in 2014 followed a First World War Centenary trail centred on WWI memorials.

When we arrived, we had lunch before visiting ‘The Year Was 1944’ exhibition. This culminates in a moving film by sand artist Kseniya Simonova. She manipulates sand to trace the journey of one man and his family from the outbreak of war through the beaches of Normandy and on to the present day.

By the end of the film, I felt quite emotional.

We then walked around the Arboretum taking in highlighted memorials relevant to the events of 1944. The route also introduced me to memorials that I hadn’t seen on my previous visit.

There is still another area that I haven’t yet explored in the outer meadow and woodland area of the Arboretum…

We packed and were ready to load the car before we went to breakfast. Our table was in glorious sunshine, leading us to linger a while before loading the car and checking out. As we handed in the room keys we were asked if  we would like complimentary coffees ‘to go’. Mr C declined and asked if it was possible to have some bottled water instead to which the answer was yes.

We had intended to buy water and sun cream before the festival opened, now we only needed to obtain sunscreen. We arrived in town too early for the Sunday opening hours so we parked at the festival site (we were almost the first to arrive) and walked back into town. As we walked past the visitor information center we noticed it was open so I was able to purchase the walking leaflets I had hoped to pick up the day before. Whilst in town I purchased a scarf to shield my neck and shoulders from the sun. The one I had brought with me was not fully up to the job.

We called in at the Touching Souls tea rooms for refreshments before heading to the festival ground to meet with our friends and to join one of the battle field guided walks. After the walk we had lunch, then we split up to explore the event independently before meeting up again for the battle re-enactment. ‘The boys’ stayed to see the battle whilst I returned to the town intending to explore some of the alleyways and heritage trails on one of the leaflets I picked up at the tourist information center.

I entered Victoria Gardens and found a shady spot to ‘rest a while’ before setting off into town I noticed a signpost to the river walk so I set off in this direction, passing the Abbey Mill and some other interesting features before returning to the Touching Souls tearoom on the off chance that it may have stayed open later due to the festival. It wasn’t but I lingered a while to rest my feet before setting off on my next adventure which turned out to be short-lived. I had just managed to dodge the cars and cross the road when I received a text from Mr C, ‘On my way. Meet you at the Abbey tea shop’. I renegotiated my way across the road which had become even busier and returned to the shady bench that I had recently vacated.

The tearoom being closed led to us stopping at a motorway service station for the much needed refreshing, rehydrating drink.

Back home, bags unpacked, we enjoyed fine dining on the patio. We lit the two RAF blue memorial candles given to us at our friends funeral and watched them fluttering in the wind as the sun went down.

Click on photo to see video

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
1915

John 15:13 (KJV)

Following the 2014 ceramic poppies at the Tower of London, which represented the 888,246 British and Commonwealth Service men and women who lost their lives in the First World War, this Tommy commemorates the centenary of the end of the 1914-1918 war and those who lost their lives.

“There But Not There reminds us of those who served in WW1 and did not return home. I believe that alongside each symbolic figure stands the spectre of five others who did return and found themselves so changed by what they had experienced that life for them and their families would never be the same again. There But Not There stands as a powerful symbol for us to not forget them too.”
Lt Gen Andrew Graham CB CBE

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.
Robert Laurence Binyon

The poppy fields as described by the ‘War Poets’ are a poignant reminder to me of the lives that were lost in both World War One and World War Two and also the lives lost in more recent wars.

Poppies to me are a simile of the lives that were lost. They are vibrant, standing strong and bold yet fragile and defeated by a heavy downfall or a spring breeze. They remind me of the fragility of peace and freedom and how easily our freedom can be lost.

Reflection on World War One (and the more recent World War Two) serve as a reminder of what might have been if the outcome of those wars had been different…

In Flanders Fields

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae
1915