November 15, 2004
Discover Dogs
This Saturday and Sunday it was “Discover Dogs” at Earls Court and as usual I ran the cairn stand. I cannot thank my great band of helpers enough, their assistance is, as always, greatly appreciated. It is quite something to give up a large chunk of your weekend but what can be better than spending it telling Joe Public what a great dog a cairn terrier is.
So what breed did you say this is?
How did I get that high?
Say Guys, is that lunch?
November 12, 2004
Ypres - 11 November 2004
Two elderly men went to Ypres yesterday to visit the town that was completely destroyed in the First World War between 1914 and 1917.
This sounds quite an innocuous statement until you realise that the two of them were just small boys during the Second World War and only learned of the “Great War” in their history lessons. Yesterday commemorated the 90th anniversary of the first battle of Ypres. What an incredible juxtaposition of ages and time!
The two men were myself and my friend Gerry. We stood by the Menin Gate and listened to the service leading up to the “Last Post” and all I could think of was “why?” Attending services like this surely shows the futility of war. The memorial of the Menin Gate is to nearly 55,000 British and Empire troops that were never found or identified.
The service was in the main, martial music played by a military band and a Scottish pipe band. The hymnal version of Sibelius’s Finlandia was particularly touching and the hairs on my neck stood up when the Last Post was sounded.
A day to be remembered.
Click on the useful links on this page for more information about the town.
Pictures can be found here
November 02, 2004
Pam's Drive In
Pam Driving Off
Today we were invited to our very dear friend Pam's installation as Lady Captain at her golf club. The greatest thing about such an event is the delight in meeting old friends after many years. As non-golfers we thoroughly enjoyed the day and wish Pam a very happy year in this prestigious post