On 11th November 1918, at 11 o’clock, the sound of the artillery on the Western Front faded away like a distant roll of thunder. The Great War was over. All over Britain, communities put up memorials to remember their dead; later wars added names to the monuments, plaques and statues.

At the Eastergate crossroads stands the Lion War Memorial newly cleaned and repaired by Eastergate Parish Council in time for this date. A hundred years after the Armistice around a thousand people from Barnham, Eastergate and surrounding hamlets gathered together around the Lion for the Remembrance Service.

Volunteers from both Parishes (led by Julie Allington) had put up a hundred giant poppies on lamp posts lining the roads through the villages.

After the Remembrance Sunday Service, at the nearby Eastergate Memorial Hall, members of the Hundred Choir (led by Emily Barden) performed a range of songs from that time, from Stopford’s “Ave Verum” to “It’s a long way to Tipperary”. Around 300 people listened and enjoyed tea and cakes under the pre-WW1 murals.

The Community spirit started the evening before with the sell-out performance of  “Our Local Lads’ written and performed by Jean Rogers. This moving display of local talent raised over £1400 for The Royal British Legion.

For additional photographs follow this link to Flickr