Fred, Wilfred and a memorial

The celebrated war poet Wilfred Owen used to stay with his aunt in her house just a hundred metres or so up the road from where we are currently living. It was through this connection that he came to Dunsden in 1911 to work as a lay assistant to the vicar. Today I decided to walk the short Wilfred Owen Trail in Dunsden which is about a mile away. The trail takes you to various places associated with Owen during his time here. As I came down to All Saints Church I noticed that the lights were on. The church is usually locked and I've not managed to get inside before. So I ventured in and discovered the churchwarden together with a man whom she introduced as Fred. In 2022 the Worshipful Company of Glazier's and Painters of Glass annual stained glass window design competition (the prestigious Stevens Competition) was to create a window to commemorate Wilfred Owen's time in Dunsden. The competition was won by the designer Natasha Redina. It is an absolutely fantastic design with lines from the poem 'Deep under turfy grass' and a map of the parish (you can see it on the BSMGP website). Fred was from the company in Germany that has been commissioned to make and install the new window. He had just arrived to take the measurements of the existing lancet window. The new window is to be installed in time for the anniversary of Owen's death at Ors on 4th November 1918. I think there is a good chance that we might still be here to see it in place. In the meantime I photographed the Owen memorial tablet on the wall just below the window.