Ilkeston - Remember November
w/e 09 November 2014
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
"Remember remember the fifth of November, gunpowder,
treason and plot." So begins the rhyme recalling Guy Fawkes
and his compatriots and their 1605 plot to blow up the Houses
of Parliament but that is not all we remember in this month of
November.
On the first day of the month a ceremony of wreath laying and
rededication of War Graves installed earlier this year by the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission took place in Stanton Road
Cemetery. The above is just one image from the event but more
can be seen in this YouTube presentation: Rededication
|
There are also a number of War Graves at various places in the
town's main burial ground at Park Cemetery. They can be easily
spotted because of the distinctive shape and size of the headstones.
|
There is also a War Memorial near the main entrance to Park Cemetery
and on Tuesday the 4th, children from Chaucer Junior School attended
a remembrance ceremony with representatives of the Royal British
Legion to lay simple crosses around the memorial.
|
Those same children probably also enjoyed some Bonfire Night
celebrations the following day if the bangs, whooshes, whizzes
and pops from a multitude of fireworks heard were anything to
go by. In fact the noise from fireworks has been heard all week
and Bonfire "Night" has expanded to become Bonfire
"Month" and even longer. When I was young bonfires
were normally held on the 5th or maybe the nearest Saturday but
these days there seems to be no limit to the number of days fireworks
are let off and shops like this one on Nottingham Road must have
done a roaring trade. I have no desire to spoil the fun but the
expansion of the celebrations causes great concern to owners
of traumatised pets over the extended period - I speak from experience!
|
The bonfire parties of course are commemorating a four hundred
year old event but all week the Royal British Legion flag has
been flying alongside the Union Flag on the Town Hall as we remember
the fallen of two World Wars (and other conflicts) which is particularly
poignant this year as it is the centenary of the start of World
War One.
|
Also on the Town Hall above the Wharncliffe Road entrance is
a large poppy as a tribute to the fallen.
|
The flag and poppy are temporary additions to the Town Hall but
across the Market Place there is a permanent reminder in the
Garden of Remembrance.
|
In large letters around the memorial is the promise "We
Will Remember Them".
|
On Sunday morning the Annual Service of Remembrance took place
around the Cenotaph on the Market Place and a similar act of
remembrance will be held on Armistice Day November 11th.
The Ilkeston people turned out in force again as the nation fell
silent.
|
So with Bonfire Night, Remembrance Day and Armistice Day all
being in this month November truly is the month to remember and
although we probably don't need reminding, it is also the prelude
to Advent and Christmas and many shops have been reminding us
of the fact - not that we need it - for many weeks now.
|
