Lindfield's All Saints Church commemoration service
Sunday 28th April at 3pm
A time for remembering loved ones, seeking comfort and finding hope.
For more details please visit www.allsaintslindfield.org/thanksgiving
Remembrance Day in Lindfield 2023
As Remembrance Day approaches, members of the Lindfield branch of the Royal British Legion are busy preparing for the annual Poppy Appeal and memorial services.
From Saturday 4th – 11th November, poppies will be on sale daily at the gazebo on the High Street. On 11th November RBL members will meet at the War Memorial at All Saints Church, to remember those who died in the world wars.
On Sunday 12th November, wreaths will be laid at the memorial at 2.45pm followed by a Remembrance Service at All Saints Church, starting at 3pm.
Refreshments will be available after the service and all residents are invited to attend. Lindfield will also be represented at the national Festival of Remembrance at London’s Royal Albert Hall, when standard bearer Paul Buckland will join the parade.
A plaque in memory of young Lindfield soldier Alan MacDonald Leeney will be dedicated at the United Reformed Church on 6th November at 7pm. Alan, a member of the URC Boys Brigade, was just 19 when was killed while serving in the army in Germany, on 8th May 1979.
Remembering Lindfield resident Ernest Mackellar Turner
By Roddy Turner
In the April 22 edition of Lindfield Life, in the article on royal celebrations in Lindfield I was pleased to see a photo of my late father, Mac Turner of Meadow Lane, in Highland dress playing the bagpipes, leading the procession through Lindfield as a part of the 1977 Silver Jubilee celebrations. Ernest MacKellar Turner, otherwise known as Mac, was a well-known character in the village, always ready to stop for a chat with anyone, whether walking to the shops or to passersby whilst tending his garden. His rich Scottish accent and warm manner made him many friends, and I know his passing, last year at the age of 88, will be felt by all those who knew him. I would therefore like to tell a little about his colourful, hardworking and very full life.
Mac was born in 1933 in the village of Minard on the shores of Loch Fyne in Argyll, a place of pristine beauty with a strong community, and a lost way of life about which he never ceased to reminisce. Although the village was poor by today’s standards everyone helped each other out and his childhood was coloured by working on farms or roaming in the hills. As a child he developed a strong love of making things, be it model boats or repairing old bikes, and the skills he learned were invaluable in years to come.
Mac’s idyllic childhood was overshadowed by the outbreak of WW2. The whole of Loch Fyneside became a restricted area, as one of the places chosen for the preparations for the eventual landings of D-Day. The local children could attend home guard lectures with the adults, and Mac could strip and re-assemble a Bren gun in double quick time, to the embarrassment of the men who were finding it hard to accomplish!
in 1951 he received his national service call-up papers and took the train ‘down south’ to the RAF camp at Yatesbury in Wiltshire for his basic training, and then to learn a trade as a ground mechanic working on wireless, radar and other technologies of the burgeoning post war recovery years.
To read the full, and beautiful, piece Roddy has written about his late father, please grab a copy of Lindfield Life’s August issue and turn to page 12 and 13, where you’ll see wonderful photos and be taken around the world with Mac.
Local Poppy Appeal
By Val Upton
This year the poppy appeal will be different. There will be no door-to-door collections and no street collectors with trays.
However, there will be an opportunity to buy poppies. Between 31st October and 7th November volunteers will man a table to enable socially-distanced collection and donations.
Our Service of Remembrance on 8th November at All Saints Church will be limited numbers and you will need to sign up for it. It will commence at 10.30am, starting with wreath laying and then a short service. Everyone must wear a mask. There will sadly be no parade this year.
No large Remembrance gatherings
By Valerie Upton, Chairman
It is with great regret that the committee of The Lindfield Branch of the Royal British Legion has decided not to organise any large events to commemorate Remembrance Sunday 2020.
In the current climate created by the Covid-19 pandemic, we do not feel it appropriate to arrange any event which will lead to the formation of a significant crowd of participants and spectators, knowing the aggressive transmission capabilities of the virus. Whilst all plans cannot yet be finalised, to be specific at this time, there will be: no line-up for the wreath-laying ceremony, no parade down Lindfield High Street, no refreshments in the King Edward Hall and no road closures.
Other questions remain to be addressed, but please be assured that the village of Lindfield WILL still remember.
Lindfield Remembrance events - 1918-2018
Lindfield has a long history of commemorating the lives of those who have fought for our freedom and on this centenary year of the end of the First World War it will be no different. There will, however, be some practical changes from previous years.
The United Reformed Church has kindly agreed to host the Service of Remembrance as All Saints Church building is closed whilst substantial internal works is being carried out.
Although the pavement around the War Memorial (outside All Saints) has been opened up and temporary builders fencing moved back - space is restricted, and the High Street will not be closed to traffic.
Please note that due to instructions from Royal British Legion head office, branches are no longer able to organise parades (where there are parades, these are organised by local councils). There will therefore be no parade from the War Memorial to the URC and anyone walking from the Memorial to the church will need to remain on the pavements.
For clarity we have listed the various events and timings here...
Sunday 11th November 2018
6am – Peter Candy will be playing the bagpipes at the War Memorial as part of a national initiative
10.50am – We will be marking 100 years since the end of WWI at the War Memorial (playing the Last Post etc)
2.45pm – Laying of wreaths at the War Memorial The road will not be closed, so all wreaths will be laid within the churchyard. Supporters are welcome to go along but must be aware there is no road closure in effect.
3.30pm – Service of Remembrance at the United Reformed Church (All Saints Church currently closed)
7pm – Lighting of the Beacon of Remembrance on Lindfield Common
Commemorating the centenary of the cessation of hostilities in 1918, a beacon, sponsored by Lindfield Parish Council, will be lit on Lindfield Common, replicating a ceremony taking place at many sites across the United Kingdom. A short remembrance service will take place around the lighting.