Anzac Day

It was a beautiful, sunny ~ and almost warm ~ day in Aberdeen.

We took the long way home from town and made a detour past the very peaceful Dyce Old Churchyard.

Set on a small hill between the river Don and Aberdeen airport, the site has seen centuries of Christian worship. Largely intact though roofless, the 13th/14thC (?) Chapel of St Fergus houses a collection of Pictish and early Christian carved stones, thought to date from the 7th - 9thC. At a doorway lie the remains of what may be an early Medieval baptismal font. In the cemetery, there is a fine example of a Mort House, from where a nightwatchman would guard new graves from resurrectionists who would dig up and sell fresh cadavers to the Anatomy Department at Aberdeen University.

One of the most interesting and moving areas is the small cemetery given over to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The remains of Canadian, Australian, New Zealand, Czech and German airmen and women rest here, allies and foes together, their graves marked by simple white stones set in neat rows.

After I'd taken the picture, I discovered that today is Anzac Day, the day Australia and New Zealand remember their war dead. Even though it was coincidental (if you believe in coincidences) that I happened to come here on this particular day, I'm glad I visited their graves and paused to give them a moment's thought.