Sadness & Travel

Another early start, busy dressing for the Madron Church Service I never noticed a message from my daughter asking to ring.
So I set off to Madron, near Penzance for the Trafalgar Commemoration Service.
The Trafalgar and Nelson Remembrance ceremony marks the moment in history when Penzance received highly important news by sea.
The Battle of Trafalgar is one of Britain’s most famous wartime victories, fought against France in 1805. During the battle, the British fleet of ships was commanded by Admiral Lord Nelson, one of the best-known military leaders in British history. However, while fighting, Nelson was killed by a French sniper.

After the battle, a ship called 'The Pickle' was sent back to Falmouth with the news. On the way, it passed fishermen in Mount’s Bay, near Penzance, who heard about the death of Lord Nelson. At the time, the Mayor and council of Penzance were having dinner in the Union Hotel. When they heard the news, the mayor made a speech from the balcony to announce the death of this popular leader.
The people of Penzance made a special banner which they carried in a procession to the Parish Church in Madron. The banner read “Mourn the brave, the immortal Nelson’s gone, his last sea fight is fought, his work of glory done”.
Every year people meet in Madron Church to hold a special service to remember Trafalgar and Lord Nelson.
The parade went well, a quick coffee and I was on my way home


I had rung Sarah, my eldest, and learnt the really sad news of the passing of my son-in-law Manolo’s mother, Julia. Such a lovely person whom I had met on several occasions and despite the language barrier we had always got on really well.
Julia’s passing in the early hours was to have an impact over the next couple of days.

Home, changed, packed and on the train to Plymouth to see Sarah and granddaughter Anais and get ready for tomorrow’s celebration. Sarah and granddaughter Anais were understandably sad, more so because the could not travel to Madrid. My brother Gary arrived and we settled down to an evening of catching up over a home cooked curry and a bottle of beer or two.

A sad day!

Main Photo - Madron Parade this morning
Supplementary - Myself, Anais & Julia