Remembrance Sunday 2014

The spring weather has been late to arrive this year and I wondered if Remembrance Sunday would be a damp squib, but on the morning the sun was shining as we made our way into Jamestown to be part of the service at the Cenotaph on the quayside.
We arrived early (required in order to find a parking space!) We were delighted to find the Coffee Shop open and sat in the sun drinking St Helena coffee and chatting with friends.
The parade started early and we were soon bustling through the crowds to get a good vantage point for the ceremony. Various uniformed groups marched down to the Cenotaph and soon the Acting Governor Mr Sean Burns and his wife Marina arrived to start the service.
As before, the service was respectful and moving, culminating in a parade past dignitaries who received the salute on the Court House steps! All in keeping with local tradition.


Speaking to some locals afterwards, they told me that the weather is ALWAYS perfect for Remembrance Sunday and so it was.
The most entertaining part though was the colour of ex-pat faces on Monday morning, where they had not used a strong enough factor sun cream. I advocate using Factor 30 as a minimum and I am not someone who readily burns. The sun is exceptionally strong here even when it isn’t very hot. It got to around 28◦C here on Sunday, which is not hot in comparison to summer here, but you really can’t underestimate the strength of the sun.
Anyway, lots of sunburnt faces on Monday did make me smile :-)