At 11 o’clock in the morning, on this anniversary of the signing of the Armistice which noted the end of hostilities on the Western Front of World War 1, the congregation stood to think about all those who had lost their lives during not only the two world wars. but also continuing conflicts around the world.

We focussed on the Poppy Fall which had been created by the ladies of our Afternoon Club in Saltcoats St. Cuthbert’s Parish Church. The 38 poppies forming the Cross in the centre remember each of those whose names appear on the Memorial alongside which it hangs. At the back of the church there is a roll of all who served, some of whom returned to their families – all of whom would have been either physically or emotionally scarred.

Extracted from the poem written by Robert Laurence Binyon (1869-1943) entitled ‘For the Fallen‘

“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.”

For the full poem and story behind its creation please follow THIS LINK