On Bank Holiday weekend, 25th, 26th & 27th August 2018, All Saints’ church Flower Guild will be commemorating the 96 men of Faringdon and the surrounding district from WW1 whose names are on Faringdon War Memorial, under the title of ‘There but not there’. The idea first came to me following Faringdon Dramatic Society’s production ‘Reflections’ in November 2014, and was inspired by the poppies at the Tower and the ‘There but not there’ installation in Penshurst church near Tonbridge in Kent in 2016. 96 individual commemorative poppies have been made by a group from the Pump House Project and we will also have books of the men’s names with details of regiments or other military units (researched and compiled by former Mayor Mike Wise, and Mark Stone) for people to look at and find out more about these brave men. In addition, All Saint’s bell ringers, who have rung the bells to commemorate every person listed on the 100th anniversary of their death, will be holding an open Tower day on the Saturday for anyone who would like to see what they do, and members of FDS will be reading poetry and letters of the time on the Sunday afternoon. Refreshments will be available in the Barber Rooms behind the church and we will have a commemorative programme available for those who would like a small memento.
This event is being organised in conjunction with the Town Council and the exhibition that they are staging of Faringdon’s WW1 Hospital, with assistance from Buscot Park Estate.