Quiet reflection

Snowdrops in my Dunblane garden, and present all over this town, which adopted that hardy little flower as a symbol of peace, initially for advocacy - successfully - of gun control.

It’s always a poignant day in my adopted home place, which is quieter than usual today, and thankfully seems free of the anniversary rubber-neckers we’ve grown accustomed to.

25 years ago the horror was unleashed, I was lucky enough not to be here then, but in a radio studio as the news began to break, and I thought it was some dreadful mistake.

I know many who lost children that day, and some who survived the atrocious assault. For many years I was proud to be a trustee of the charity which emerged from the grim events of 1996, and helped create a little light from that darkness. Few locally were unscathed, and while this community has found ways to move on, they will forever remember those who were lost.