Remembrance Sunday 2011

United in memory, it has finally been agreed to hold one Remembrance Sunday ceremony and at 11am! in Chapel Market Place

For many years Chapels rememberance ceremony has happened considerably later than the “eleventh hour”, many of us were upset by the sight of elderley ex-servicemen waiting around the Market Place for more then an hour on cold November Sunday mornings. The reasons for this were largely because a service was held in St Thomas Beckett Church (which also has a memorial for those in died in War) and a silence was observed as part of that service. After the service the congregation came out onto the Market Place, and a second act of rememberance was observed.

This led to a situation where in 2009 & 2010 there was a “civil ceremony” held at eleven am, and one led by the Parish Church 40 or 50 minutes later!

However in 2011 the Parish Council  expressed its gratitude to the the Parochial Church Council at St Thomas Becket Church for agreeing to alter the timing of their service on Remembrance Sunday to allow the community as a whole to gather at the War Memorial on the Market place at 11 am

This has co-incided with a re-vamping of the War Memorial on the Market Place, Chapel’s War Memorial being unusual in that it lists all who served in the Great War, with a small cross to signify those who died, well now the names of those who died in the Second World War have been added, and the Memorial has had some lighting positioned around it.

Therefore on Friday 11th November 2011 in a brief ceremony starting at 10.45am the War Memorial was re-dedicated by HM lord Lieutenant of Derbyshire Mr W  Tucker.

On Sunday 13th November at 11am a unified Rememberance Service was held which was very well attended, and clearly everyone felt that it marked the community coming together to remember those who served in both World Wars and those who have continued to defend us including those currently on active duty.