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Christine Clark

Memorials to our War Dead: the Cenotaph and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

November 7, 2020 By Christine Clark 1 Comment

poppy image by Fotomanie voa Pixabay

I wonder how many people know the history of these two significant and impressive memorials to those who fell in war.

The Cenotaph.

Cenotaph London, Armistice Day 2018. Image via UK Government's Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Cenotaph London, Armistice Day 2018. Image via UK Government’s Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

Designed by Edwin Lutyens, the Cenotaph (meaning ‘empty tomb’) was first erected in 1919 as a temporary wood and plaster structure for a victory parade at the end of the First World War. It was to be temporary as it was thought that this parade would be a one-off. But the Cenotaph quickly captured the public imagination. Repatriation of the dead had been forbidden since the early days of the war, so the Cenotaph came to represent the absent dead and served as a substitute for a grave. Beginning almost immediately after the parade and continuing for days afterwards, members of the public began laying flowers and wreaths around the Cenotaph’s base: people needed to mourn their sons, fathers and brothers. So clear was this need for a visible monument, that in 1920 it was replaced by a permanent Portland stone structure, to the same Lutyens design, and designated the United Kingdom’s official national war memorial. [Read more…] about Memorials to our War Dead: the Cenotaph and the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior

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Tags: culture, history, memory, Remembrance Sunday, storytelling, war memorial, World War One

A Romantic Romp through the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

September 20, 2020 By Christine Clark 6 Comments

NATO phonetic alphabet, codes and signals.

In this bit of nonsense, I have included each of the NATO Phonetic Alphabet codewords …

Last November, alpha male Mike and his Zulu boyfriend Charlie took a holiday at the famous golf hotel in Lima. Wanting a break from the game, they took a drive through the delta, up into the sierra, where they heard the famous echo. In the evening they were joined by their yankee soldier friend Victor (who was in uniform) and his Papa.

They all went to the theatre where they saw Romeo and Juliet (it was an Oscar-winning performance – ‘Bravo’, they cried) and then went dancing, first the foxtrot then the tango. [Read more…] about A Romantic Romp through the NATO Phonetic Alphabet

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Tags: creative writing, humour, storytelling

Christmas: A Time for Family and Friends

December 13, 2019 By Christine Clark Leave a Comment

The birth of Jesus was the beginning of family life for Mary, Joseph and their new son. Mary’s pregnancy had not been normal by anyone’s standards, starting with the conception from the Holy Spirit, announced by the angel Gabriel. The gospels do not go into detail but we can guess how difficult it must have been for Mary to explain this to her parents as well as her intended, Joseph. There will have been gossip and funny looks in the market place, I am sure, as her pregnancy became more obvious. So, not easy for a young girl. Luckily, Joseph was guided by an angel not to divorce her but to support her. Then there was the journey to Bethlehem, for Joseph to register in the census, and the lack of accommodation there that meant that the new Messiah was born in a lowly stable.

Christmas nativity

This story is familiar to us all, as each Christmas we hear the Bible passages and sing the words in our carols. And, of course, it is illustrated on the Christmas cards we send and receive, the Advent calendars, and the decorations in our homes and our towns. So familiar are these images that it is too easy for us to become hardened to them and not to look at them afresh to read what they really tell us.

The new little family – the Holy Family – was unique. Mary, Jesus’ mother, was chosen by God to carry and give birth to his son. As any mother does, she nurtured him, watched as he grew up, guided him, then stepped back as he set out on his ministry. Later, she had to watch and live through his violent death. Mary is now venerated as the model of all mothers and holds a special place in many Christians’ hearts.

Christmas wreath

[Read more…] about Christmas: A Time for Family and Friends

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Tags: Chandler’s Ford community, Christianity, Christmas, church, churches together, community, history, local interest, religion, tradition

Book Review: Margaret Doores’ Love’s Greatest Gift – Remembrance

October 27, 2018 By Christine Clark Leave a Comment

If you have ever walked past the war memorial outside St Boniface Church in Hursley Road, you may have wondered about those named on it. Perhaps you wanted to know a bit more about them and how they died in the Great War. Or maybe a bit more about the Chandler’s Ford they left in 1914. [Read more…] about Book Review: Margaret Doores’ Love’s Greatest Gift – Remembrance

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Tags: Chandler's Ford, community, culture, education, history, Hursley Road, local interest, memory, St. Boniface Church, war memorial, World War One

Random Acts of Kindness

January 2, 2017 By Christine Clark 1 Comment

We hear a lot about random acts of kindness and how little things can make a big difference to people. With this in mind, whilst shopping in Winchester and Asda today (1 January), I  made a point of thanking the shop assistants who served me, for being at work today, a public holiday  – a day when I and many others are fortunate to be off work and furthermore expect to find the shops open. [Read more…] about Random Acts of Kindness

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Tags: community, good neighbours, viewpoint

Roads that Change Their Names in Chandler’s Ford

August 17, 2016 By Christine Clark 4 Comments

If you live in Merdon Avenue, did you know that it used to be called The Crescent? And that Twyford Road, Eastleigh, was once Winchester Road, Eastleigh? And that Consort Road, Eastleigh used to be Park Road?

I expect you have detected a pattern here. When Eastleigh became a borough that included Chandler’s Ford, it was found that some road names were duplicated between the two towns and, presumably so as not to confuse the postman, some were renamed so that there was only one of each. [Read more…] about Roads that Change Their Names in Chandler’s Ford

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Tags: Chandler’s Ford community, Eastleigh, Eastleigh Borough Council, Information, local interest, memory, Merdon Avenue

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