This November has so far been all about reflection and remembrance, of sorrow and gratitude. We are lucky to be able to treasure each day the freedoms we have and the people we care about.
Armistice Centenary
What a wonderful change it has been to see so many nations united around one message: remembering those who served in or lived through the horrors of World War One.
It was most fitting that Remembrance Sunday this year did fall on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, to coincide with the centenary of the armistice ending the ‘Great War’. At the eleventh hour we observed two minute’s silence exactly one hundred years after the guns fell silent in the conflict that was meant to end them all.
Local communities played their part organising parades, services of remembrance and wreath laying ceremonies at war memorials. Twyford and Cuincy in France celebrated their newly twinned status by sending representatives to attend each other’s events. The centenary was of particular relevance for this part of northern France, which saw so many battles and has numerous military cemeteries as a result.
The radio waves and TV channels have been awash with stories and tributes. Here are two shows well worth catching if you missed them.
- The Royal British Legion Festival of Remembrance on Remembrance Sunday at the Royal Albert Hall in London
- Watch on BBC iPlayer, available until 10 December 2018
- They shall not grow old – the story of WW1 by those who were there, using old footage brought to life by Peter Jackson
- Watch on BBC iPlayer, available until 18 November 2018
Gareth Jones
The Twyford community was shocked and saddened by the sudden death of Gareth Jones in late October, as were his many contacts in the worlds of photography and sports. Gareth, 57, was a professional photographer who often contributed images taken at local community events for publication in RG10 magazine. Read our tribute.
All credit to his devastated family, who ensured that his funeral on 8 November was truly a celebration of a life lived to the full. Through the tribute and stories shared with others afterwards, Gareth came across as a man passionate about his work, rugby and cycling, with a great sense of humour and adventure, generous with his time and kindness to others, and always dedicated to his family. My own father died similarly young, also of sudden cardiac arrest, and is very much in my mind as this month would have been his birthday.
Donations in Gareth’s memory can be made to the Thames Valley Air Ambulance via the following link to a fundraising page set up by Miles & Daughters Funeral Directors. RIP Gareth, you will be missed.
