Cranfield Express column December 2010

My December column in Mr Hinson's splendid periodical: What a trojan he is. (That might be unduly complimentary to trojans but they did have the ability to focus I understand)



Parish matters

There was a strong turnout at Cranfield War Memorial last month and wreaths from fresh directions. It is impressive how Cranfield's schools, under new management, have been become more involved in the local community.
Holywell’s head Peter Haddon escorted a pair of pupils to the Memorial to lay a wreath on behalf of the school and a lower school wreath was laid by a teacher. Due to the renovation going on in the church, the service was held in the lower school hall. Hugh Symes-Thomson told the story about the blitz and Coventry Cathedral being resurrected.
The salvaging of scorched nails from the destroyed mediaeval timbers and their re-assembly as improvised crosses was a brilliant piece of imagination and intense symbolism. Along with the intact shell of the old Coventry Cathedral, the crosses are the equivalent of the preserved remains of the Frauenkirche in Dresden which was utterly obliterated in a bombing raid in February 1945. The estimated death toll there (carried out by the city council, just this year) was around 25,000.
Coventry and Dresden were eventually twinned and their links reflected a strong impulse towards forgiveness and rebuilding.
It’s the same with the tensions between Protestant and Catholic in Tudor England which boiled over into the Gunpowder Plot. There is still theological disagreement today both between and within these branches of Christianity but nothing like the murderous hatred of the 16th century. One exception to that was Northern Ireland in the late 20th century where I grew up. Nevertheless, despite atrocities by extremists on both sides, by army personnel and the B Specials (the Ulster Special Constabulary) eventually a civic dialogue has produced a fledgling peace.
This is why it was a surprise to find someone writing in Cranfield Express, last month, in slightly leaden verse, resurrecting the whole Catholic nightmare story about November 5th and revelling in the capture, torture and execution of the conspirators. As for the securing of the Protestant throne, another outcome close to the writer’s heart - I’m not sure many people are worried about that these days with many larger global threats and national concerns.
Remembrance Sunday and the Football Club's fireworks night are practically the only times the village assembles in some numbers and we need to find more opportunities to do that. I think, to be honest Halloween has taken over from GF Day and good riddanceto it. It ceased to be a public holiday in the 19th century. But I wouldn’t want the Football Club’s spectacular and successful firework display to stop for any reason.