Except for the rare years when Remembrance Sunday falls on 11 November, I have three events to attend – a silence on the village green at 11am on 11th November, the regular church service on the Sunday morning and another service with laying of wreaths back on the village green in the afternoon of the Sunday.

I think it is a valuable series of memorials and it seems a shame that more don’t attend, although perhaps they were all down in town for the civic memorial this morning? I have to admit that nowadays the poem which comes to my mind on these occasions is not one of the classic war poems but a short one attributed to Steve Turner: “History repeats itself. Has to. Nobody listens”.

As our Home Secretary inflames hatred by arguing that anti-war protesters flame hatred, it seems all the more relevant. Oh for the day when we can justly forget what our ploughshare metal was once used for.