Moving On....

I dropped Islay off at friends of my dad's- she is now on two weeks holiday!

We are off tomorrow- not sure what the wifi will be like, so hopefully will be able to upload.

Driving through Enham Alamein, I saw this fabulous sculpture...

WW1 Sculpture Tree


A unique sculpture of a First World War soldier is being created as the focal point of Enham Trust’s WW1 Centenary commemorations.

It will be unveiled by Falklands veteran Simon Weston and Sir Gerald Howarth MP for Farnborough at a special event in August marking the start of a commemorative heritage trail around the Hampshire village of Enham Alamein.

The WW1 statue is being crafted by specialist chainsaw sculptor Nick Speakman from an oak which fell in a field at Enham Alamein during the winter storms.

“I feel very honoured to be part of this historic project,” says Nick. “My aim is to show how the solder is turning from the horrors of war and looking ahead to a better life.”

Also on display at the unveiling on 6th August will be the resin mould of a statue of Paralympian Ade Adepitan for which the charity will begin fundraising to have cast in bronze.

The charity came into being as Enham Village in 1919 to rehabilitate servicemen disabled by the injuries they sustained during the fighting.

“The WW1 solider depicts how the soldiers found peace and a new life at Enham,” explains Victoria Leesam, Enham Trust’s Property Executive. “It’s the start of our new Heritage Trail which will have information signs through the village describing the journey of the charity through the decades.”

It will be the first of five heritage trails which Enham Trust hopes to have in place by the charity’s own centenary in 2019. If all goes to plan the Paralympian statue will sit on Enham’s main site – a beacon to the independent spirit of disabled people in the 21st century.

It will be a fitting reminder of how Enham Village became a place of rest and recuperation for so many soldiers, and the journey of the charity over nearly a century to help many thousands of disabled people achieve lives of choice and independence.