Monday, July 02, 2007

Remember

Shot with Olympus E500
It was July the 1st on Sunday, and I wanted to find some way of using a little bit of London to remember the Battle of the Somme, 101 91 years ago (thanks Gordon!). It may be a bit of a sombre mood to start the week but with 57,000 casualties - 19,000 dead - in one day, it stands as a monument to man's mean spirits.

It's almost banal to say it, but maybe five million blogs like this may help stop anything like it ever happening again.

I found these ephemeral poppies while I was taking a last gasp walk around the site-to-be of the Olympic Park, before the barriers come down today. Watching in amusement in the battle of man Vs nature - if they don't get rid of the knotweed, it will come through everything they put down. Read more about this long forgotten and soon to be olympic-ed away site on Diamond Geezer here, here or in fact here any day this week.

See where: London Daily Photo Map

posted by Ham at 00:20 -- Comments here: 3

Comments on "Remember"

 

Blogger Chaz said ... (11:25) : 

This is very poignant and I’m ashamed to say that I forgot the anniversary yesterday. The poppies are spectacular this year and it’s amazing what they’ll grow on. I managed to snap a few myself down in SE1 on the way to work.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (21:53) : 

The French don't use poppies as a symbol of remembrance - I wonder how it came to pass that the English do?

Nice thoughtful post.

I don't think the people in France emphasize the battle of the Somme these days. Maybe because there are SO MANY places on French soil that are drenched in blood. We are worried that remembering these dark times will foster ill feelings against our German neighbours. At some stage it seems more important to think of building Europe and (hopefully) world peace... which is what your post was about anyway.

Never again, they said...
If only it had been true.

 

Anonymous Anonymous said ... (21:56) : 

Ham, thanks for your comment about mushrooms in Sydney. It prompted me to come for a visit here (I have to confess it had been a while) - I had a browse through your previous posts and I really enjoyed my visit. Great photos, informative (and often fun) texts - just like Eric in Paris you are a master at the genre. And congratulations for your long standing commitment to daily posting. Cheers!

 

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Name: Ham Location: London, United Kingdom View my complete profile