Act of Remembrance at St Thomas’s

We marked Remembrance Sunday with a difference this year. Because of the Covid-19 restrictions, normal remembrance services were suspended. At St Thomas’s, we did not have a full service, but we had a very moving short one, a 10-minute service in church, followed by the laying of a wreath outside. It sounds simple, but the details were beautiful.

The congregation were, as usual these days, seated 2m apart with masks, with service sheets laid on the seats beforehand. But that was not all - on each seat was placed a stone with a poppy on it, individually painted on by Vittoria and Sue.

I was allowed to play the organ beforehand, which meant that we had the traditional hymn ‘O Valiants Hearts’ before the service started. Andy Linklater played Elgar's Nimrod quietly on his violin before the 2-minutes silence.

At the end of the service, Vittoria went outside to lay a wreath of poppies at the Memorial for the Simon brothers, uncles of Pearl, Margaret and Eileen. She was followed by the rest of us, each carrying a poppy stone, to lay on the Memorial along with the wreath. It was a moving act of remembrance, shared by all of us.

Some of us also went to the Memorial to the King brothers,Lucas and Alfred, at the other side of the church, and laid stones there. 

Sheila Maxwell