Staine Hundred
The Speaker at the November Meeting, appropriately, talked about War Memorials.
Maggie Richardson and her husband Colin are Regional Volunteers for the War
Memorials Trust. In this capacity they monitor existing war memorials, and give
advice on getting grants when repairs are needed. She stressed the importance
of the protection and conservation of War Memorials which come in all manner of
forms.
First she showed slides of various memorials which can be dedicated to a single person, a group of people, a regiment or to the ordinary people of the villages who lost their lives in one of the World Wars. A memorial in Park Lane London has recently been unveiled which is dedicated to the animals and birds who lost their lives through the war. Another is dedicated to the Women who died during the Wars. We saw slides of memorials in schools, memorial halls, obelisks, cenotaphs, crosses, plaques on walls but it was a pity that we weren't always told where they were.
At the end of the slide show she talked about the information packs that the War Memorials Trust are getting out for local schools who usually include the war years in their school curriculum. She had examples from Bottisham, Burwell, the Swaffhams and the Wilbrahams. In many cases these include details of the people whose names appear on the memorials with their ages, where they died, and something about the family to try to bring them alive to the younger generations. There were several questions and comments and the speaker was thanked by the Chairman, Maureen Rogers.
The next meeting will be on December 14th at 7.30 pm in the Lecture Room which will take the form of a "Christmas celebration."