Prepared by Pat Wootten.
At the beginning of November every year the Manor is transformed into a reminder of the price paid by all those who gave their lives in the service of this Country for the freedom we often take for granted. The Crafty Ladies create garlands of red poppies to drape over the fire places and set up a ‘Poppy Stall’ in aid of the British Legion. Tall silhouettes of ‘Tommies’ stand guard in preparation for our Annual Service of Remembrance
On the 11th Day of the eleventh month every year we hold our Remembrance Service for Residents and Staff to honour all those who made the ultimate sacrifice in times of war and to give humble and grateful thanks for the sacrifice they made. We follow the traditional format for the service and observe the two-minute silence, following the Exhortation and the playing of a recording of The Last Post followed by the Reveille and the Kohima Epitaph to remind us of the often, ‘Forgotten War’ which ended in September 1945, five months after Victory in Europe. Our Service ends with a hearty rendering of the National Anthem as a poppy wreath is laid at our Memorial Garden which is in a sheltered corner on the North side of the Manor.
We all may grow old, but we will remember and honour – not only those who lost their lives in two world wars but also all those men and women who have made the ultimate sacrifice in more recent conflicts and those in this country and across the Commonwealth whose lives and futures have been shattered by the impact of war.
