Also at the south end of Perth’s North Inch is a memorial to the 51st Highland Division. It takes the form of a bagpiper being thanked by a young girl.

Dedication:-

To either side of the memorial are two cairns with inset plaques.

El Alamein 50th anniversary plaque:-

51st Highland Division final reunion commemoration. Plaque donated by the people of Genner, Holland:-

On the memorial itself are several additional reliefs.

51st Highland Division Battle Honours:-

Remembrance of our liberators:-

Poem on the Memorial (by Andrew McGeever):-

Friezes of military scenes:-

An old joke has it that Perth is the smallest town in Scotland because it only has two inches. The North and South Inches are of course green spaces used for recreational purposes. They both border the River Tay.

We used to park regularly in the South Inch car park when we visited Perth. Nowadays we tend to use elsewhere.

As a result we one day strolled around the south part of the North Inch. A wall separates it from the river and on that wall is a plaque commemorating the men of Perth Co-operative Society who lost their lives in the two World Wars. It is inscribed, “1914 – 1919. To the lasting memory of the employees of the City of Perth Co-operative Society Ltd who fell in the Great War,” plus, “Also in grateful remembrance of those who sacrificed their lives in the Second World War 1939 – 1945,” and, “Their name liveth for evermore.”

From it there is this view of the river and Perth Bridge:-

Perth Bridge:-

On the same visit we popped into Perth Museum and Art Gallery. Among many other exhibits they have this old Pictish stone found at St Madoes/Inchyra in the Carse of Gowrie, Perth and Kinross.

East Boldon’s War Memorial is a stone cross on a plinth set in a memorial garden beside the A 184 near the B 1299 turn-off.

Closer view:-

Dedications. “The people of Boldon record in ever grateful remembrance the names of their brothers who gave their lives in the Great War 1914 – 1919. They were a wall unto us both by night and by day.” Below, “Let us also remember those who gave their lives in the Great War 1939 – 1945,” and World War 2 names:-

The Great War names are on side-plaques:-

I was sad to hear yesterday of the death of John le Carré. He dragged the spy novel into the post-Second World War world and elevated it to the status of literature. His early novels had all the relevance the Cold War gave to the genre and he illuminated that looking-glass world of the secret services. In George Smiley he gave the world the epitome of the enigmatic, taciturn thinker.

When the Soviet Union fell the spy novel lost a lot of its wider resonance but le Carré adapted to the new circumstances. A total of over 20 successful best selling novels speaks for itself.

My collection of his books – apart from the omnibus edition of his early works the good lady started to read – is on this shelf.

David John Moore Cornwell (John le Carré): 9/10/1931 – 12/12/2020. So it goes.

Also gone today is Gerard Houllier, one of Liverpool’s more successful managers of the “fallow” period. While he never achieved the holy grail (for Liverpool supporters) of a League Championship he still oversaw an impressive haul of trophies for the club.

Gérard Paul Francis Houllier: 3/9/1947 – 14/12/2020. So it goes.

On Friday I read the Guardian obituary of Otto Hutter. He was one of my lecturers when I briefly (one year only) studied Physiology at Glasgow University back in the day. I don’t think I realised at the time he had been one of those who came to Britain via the Kindertransport. What an incredible contribution to British life those children went on to make.

Otto Fred Hutter: 29/2/1924 – 22/11/2020. So it goes.

On our September trip last year after we left Calke Abbey we headed for the small village of Breedon on the Hill, Derbyshire, as it featured in a book we have of picturesque British villages and it was quite near.

On the way into the village we passed a quarry entrance emblazoned with the name Breedon Aggregates which I have seen on lorries and up until that point had not connected with a specific place, rather thinking the company’s name had come from a founder.

The village itself is nice enough but not outstanding I’d have said.

It did however have a distinctive War Memorial in the form of a circular stone building surmounted by a dome and cross:-

The gate to the interior is inscribed, “Lest we forget,” round a metal poppy:-

Behind the inscription is a dedication plaque:-

The written dedication is to the right of the gate, “Erected to the memory of the men of Breedon on the Hill who gave their lives in the Grteat War 1914 – 1919, then 1939 – 1945 followed by two names. The stone at the foot of the Memorial is inscribed, “We will remember them.”

Further view:-

After Coalville (see previous posts) our next stop was Ashby de la Zouch, known originally as Ashby and still referred to by that name in short.

The town’s War Memorial is in the form of a stone arch with a cross in the arch’s gap. On either side of the arch are plaques bearing names for the Great War dead. Below the cross and flanked by those names a dedication plaque reads, “Erected to the glory of God and in undying remembrance of the men of Ashby de la Zouch who gave their lives for their country in the Great War.” On the wall on which the arch stands a further plaque carries Second World War names.

Unfortunately the Memorial was partly hidden by a street fair the day I visited Ashby so the photographs are taken from either side.

This one shows the cross:-

World War 2 plaque:-

Lanterns stand to either side of the Memorial. This one is to its left as you look at it:-

Coalville Memorial Clock Tower with fence in foreground. The words inscribed on the fence are, “Memorial. For your tomorrow.”

Post World War 2 commemorations – 2 general plaques one noting deaths in Korea, Cyprus and Iraq. (Mining memorial in near background.)

R Adcock – H Davis:-

W H Davis – G R Jacques:-

D A James – G N Reason:-

D A Richards – H Woodiwiss:-

On the way back up from Rye we stopped for a night at a hotel in Leicestershire near Ashby-de-la-Zouche as the name is so delightful we felt it was place we had to visit.

Between the hotel and Ashby, however, we passed through the town of Coalville, of which I confess before planning the trip I had never heard.

It’s well worth a visit though – not as far as shops are concerned but for some of the architecture and its War Memorial.

This takes the unusual form of a clock tower* which dominates the town centre. It was erected in 1925:-

Clock tower with mining memorial in foreground. (As its name suggests Coalville has a mining heritage):-

Close-up of tower from below:-

*The only other clock tower I can remember seeing which also acted as a War Memorial is in the Dutch (or Friesian) town of Surhuisterveen. That commemorates the Second World War though and so will post-date Coalville’s.

On leaving Rye we travelled along the south coast through East Sussex using the A 27, past the Falmer Stadium (known as the Amex) on Brighton’s outskirts, just before the turning for Lewes, the county town.

I didn’t see any Art Deco but there was a War Memorial, perched on a traffic island halfway up the High Street.

It’s topped by a winged figure of Victory. Apart from the dedication, the shields attached to the base of the memorial bear Great War names:-

From north:-

The right-hand shield at the bottom here has the dedication, “In memory of the men of Lewes who died for their country and for mankind n the Great War 1914-1918.” The column above it is inscribed, “Likewise remember those of this town who gave their lives in the war 1939-1945.” The rectangular plaque has names for World War 2:-

From west:-

From east. The column is inscribed, “This was their finest hour” and again the rectangular plaque has WW2 names:-