Heroes

I've read a lot about the Spanish Civil War recently. George Orwell's acclaimed Homage to Catalonia was a particularly fascinating account.

So it was interesting to stumble across this plaque in Bristol's Castle Park. It honours four men from Bristol who, as the plaque says, 'gave their lives in the fight to defend democracy' in Spain. Their names were WG Boyce, J Burton, L Huson and TE Stephens.

Anyone with the immense patience to read my blips on a regular basis will be only too well aware of my love for Spain, having visited it on a number of occasions in the past four or five years.

I still find it shocking that in very recent history this wonderful country was ruled by a fascist dictator and saw hundreds of thousands of people die in a bloody civil conflict. Even today, the wounds linger.

How moving that four Bristolians paid the ultimate sacrifice in the fight for freedom.