Mail Column  

I wrote about the forthcoming Armistice Day in my Hartlepool Mail column last week, but after a weekend of poignant and moving tributes to our Armed Forces, tributes which showed our town at its very best, I felt the need to write about it again. As I mentioned last week, the 11th of November fell on Friday. Every 11th November is special, and should be commemorated, but this year, with the date falling as 11/11/11, it made it a date unique in our lifetimes. I commemorated the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month at what I consider to be the jewel in our town, St Hilda’s Church. I was honoured to be joined by some of St Hilda’s congregation, who spend their free time making the church look even more beautiful than it normally is by displaying flowers. I commemorated the two minutes’ silence, and the remembrance of all those who had fallen on behalf of our...