Opening of Garden of Remembrance, St. Paul's Cathedral

Monday 5th November 2012

The Clerk and I managed a swift bacon butty before assembling with the Lord Mayor, the Sheriffs and the other Livery Companies in the Garden on the North Side of St. Paul's Cathedral for the service to open the Royal British Legion's Garden of Remembrance. Fortunately, it was fine and sunny, so there was nothing sinister in all the Clerks being under the shelter of a fine plane tree (still almost in full leaf), while the Masters were out in the open. After singing 'O God our help in ages past' and 'O valiant hearts, who to your glory came', the Last Post was played perfectly by a bugler form the band of the Irish Guards.

It was very moving to be in the shadow of St.Paul's for The Exhortation with its everlasting response: 'We will remember them', especially when soldiers of the London Regiment, which our Livery supports have just returned from an attatchment to the Grenadier Guards on actve service in Afganistan. Sadly, they have taken casualties, some serious, and my thoughts were very much with their families as I planted my cross.