Photo-a-Day  (Friday, 1st February, 2019)

What an outstanding tribute to the fallen.... The guards look quite ghostly in the foggy atmosphere.

Harry , a very poignant photograph very atmospheric . When Iwas a child an old lady who lived in my street lost a son in WW1 she used to talk to me about her son. I wrote the following poem a few years ago , I hope viewers don't mind my posting it -
John Kelly.

(A lad from my street killed in action 1918)
By,
Tom Walsh


John Kelly, who was he ? a man who gave his life for you and me , a man who left his home and friends to fight for freedom to fight the foe.

A life snuffed out before its time in the carnage of that horrendous war. Did he think of his Mother on that fateful day ? did he ponder days of yore?

Did his life before him flash ? did he have time to make his peace with God ? Did he think of a sweetheart, as life blood ebbed away, of children now denied ?

Did he wonder if his body would lie with the glorious dead in a fields wheat and corn, of poppies red and lilies white ? or was his shroud to be the earth and clay.

Did he shed a tear for times that might have been, of growing old with kith and kin? Could he have known in decades hence, a poet would ask ' John Kelly, who was he ?

What a sad but beautiful scene..it somehow hits home more against the foggy background...thank you Harry.

Back in the 1950s I went to school just over the road from the Cenotaph, one young lad was named Bobby Sutch, his fathers name appears on this memorial, I believe his father was killed during the final days of the war across the channel in France. GOD BLESS them all and thanks Harry for the picture.

A very moving scene.....rather eerie but respectful and beautiful.

There are only around 50 villages in Britain without a war memorial. The two Thankful Villages in Lancashire are Arkholme and Nether Kellet.

Nicely done, Harry.

Perfect weather for this type of pic.

I can't think why anyone should object to your poem Tom, and thanks. H.5

The Aspull Memorial always looked the part - in my mind's eye I still see brass bands marching round the Fingerpost on Walking Days.
Thanks Harry - good photo, well composed.

Evocative. Almost everything blurred out apart from the central theme.
Well spotted Harry.

Have the two soldiers got swords

A very evocative and poignant reminder of all who perished, in WW1 all conflicts since.

This superb photograph and Tom’s moving tribute sum up the great loss suffered as a result of war.
“....of children now denied” - so poignant.

Thank you.

Poet, there are three Thankful Villages in Lancashire, Arkholme,Nether Kellet and Over Kellet.
Arkholme and Nether Kellet are "doubly thankful" as all of the men who served in the 1st and 2nd World Wars all returned.

Scenes like this leave me speechless, they touch my soul, but I never can put into words how they affect me. I'll just say, God Bless the poor souls of each and everyone who suffered horrors, that we will never know.. May their souls be at everlasting peace....

A memorial in Chorley dedicated to The Chorley Pals.

What beautiful words Janet.....

Lovely, Janet....Just lovely and well said...

Great photo Harry, your are looking up Haigh Rd, a very somber scene.

No Mick rifles with fixed bayonets.

A lovely scene, respectfully reminding us of soldiers who gave their life for our country. An ancestor of mine was in the Manchester Regiment. I do believe that the once Vicar of Haigh lost 3 sons. I have stood around the Cenotaph on many occasions on our Walking Days with the Brass Band playing Hymns. The scene brings back so many memories of growing up in Aspull. Thank you Harry.

The ice and snow only serves to remind us of their endurance living in the trenches for weeks on end. Suffering with 'trench foot' and frostbite whilst standing in water- we can only imagine in our wildest dreams how they suffered. The 'figures' are so apt in keeping watch over slumbering comrades.

Steve, I think Mick means the two small crosses by the soldiers. You're right Ken facing up Haigh Rd.

The father of 'Bobby Sutch' (mentioned earlier by Wiggin Lad) was Robert Henry Sutch b. 1918 Aspull.
He joined the Welsh Regiment and was killed in the fighting around Falaise shortly after DDay.
Robert Henry died on the 12th of August 1944 and his son 'Bobby' was born in December of the same year.
Buried at Bannville-La-Campagne War Cemetery, he had been married for just short of two years when he was killed.

Dorothy - the Vicar of Haigh lost all four of his sons. His two daughters did Red Cross work - the younger, Phyllis, was a nurse and one of the Head Cooks at The Beeches in Standish, when it was the Woodlands No.3 Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital.

Such a tragic time rev God bless them and there family's .

Ethereal, is the word that comes to mind.

Bravo Harry the fallen flag heightens the exquisite poignancy of this remembrance scene