Remembrance Stones

Today the sun returned for the first time in what felt like ages but has probably actually only been a few days. We've had so much wet, grey, overcast and downright gloomy weather over the last few weeks that when the sun does make an appearance again it really does feel like a blessed relief.
We were out early for a cold but bright run first thing before heading back home for a hearty breakfast and then later, as my brother had had another gruelling week of commuting and work, I said I would treat him to lunch at The Chequers in the village. We were through the door just after midday and it was already getting busy by the time our food and drink arrived. We settled on sharing three starters which were all delicious washed down with a pint each.
As the sun was still out we decided we should take a walk around the village before we settled in for an afternoon of (more) rest and relaxation.  We strolled uphill from the pub and then up the steps past the church and through the churchyard, which is where today's image was taken. It's a shot of our village's war memorial on which local schoolchildren have placed these little decorated stones on Remembrance Day - they're really poignant and miniature artworks in their own right.
As we made our way back down into the centre of the village we passed our local restaurant The Hengist, which as I mentioned in a previous blip, has very sadly had to close on a permanent basis. We could already see some of the fixtures and fittings being removed.
When we got back I checked the football results as I knew our local team, Maidstone United (known as "The Stones"), had an early kick-off in the third round of the FA Cup. They were playing Stevenage a team 69 places above them in the football pyramid and were therefore not expected to win. Somewhat miraculously they had managed to pull off a 1 - 0 victory (a penalty scored by Sam Corne) and they are now through to the fourth round for the first time in their history. Come on you Stones!
The club had actually folded in 1992 after running out of money, players and time and had to start again in the Kent County League fourth division. Me and my mate Big H witnessed many of the games played at this lowly level when we went to watch the team during their time climbing back through the ranks - games played behind service stations, crowds sometimes only just into double figures, tortuous journeys to some godforsaken grounds on freezing winter nights, a player scoring with his backside and even on one occasion playing two matches on the same day (something which would not be even be countenanced at higher echelons). It's wonderful to see the team doing so well again but we do kind of miss those early days - the sense humour and fun (it felt like we spent almost as much time laughing as we did actually watching the games) seem to dissipate somewhat the higher you scale the footballing ladder.