Minor Hero
Remembering years ago
When all was taut and smiling.
Sepia photographs from India,
Smartly uniformed,
Brilliantined for posterity,
Mentioned in Despatches
Lifetimes ago.
He's fighting now the old enemy
Who comes for everyman.
Old age and uncertainty
Combined to bring him down,
Fetching him up
In this quiet world
Where heroes are made
Every day.
Silent struggles
Against the awkwardness
And unalleviated pain.
So now that smart airman
Has crashed
in the desert of the wards
His rescuers unaware
Of the minor hero in their midst
Survivor from the heat of India,
Immobilised by ill-fortune
In this artificial womb,
Amidst the detritus
of smaller wars
Whose end is conjecture,
Veiled and secret.
By Richard Maslen.
In Memoriam John Samuel Holden
1939 - 1945. died 20.1.1996
Some Favourite Websites For October 2025:
Chris Pretty Mountaineering – Rock Climbing/Mountaineering Instructor and International Mountain Leader
Chris aims to give you an experience which ensures you are taught to the highest national standards and to ensure that you actually learn the skills required to rock climb, trek, navigate and otherwise move around the mountainous environment autonomously. The teaching is delivered by an expert team who are tried and tested in both their personal skills and their ability to teach and ensure learning with an emphasis on personal progression.
The Southwold Railway Trust – Open days at the Southwold Railway Steamworks project
The Southwold Railway was a 3-foot gauge line running between Halesworth and Southwold, a distance of almost 9 miles. Opened in 1879 and closed in 1929, it is remembered for its tall-chimneyed steam engines. The Steamworks project aims to restore this line.
Green Haven Holidays - Wheelwrights Cottage – Self Catering accommodation for up to three people + two dogs, in Rumburgh near Halesworth
Just 500 metres to the dog-friendly CAMRA village pub! This beamed cottage has been beautifully modernised to provide one-bedroom accommodation with kingsize bed, plus additional single bed if required. WiFi. Front garden plus rear courtyard with outdoor furniture. Parking for two cars. Pets welcome at no extra charge. Short breaks available. Close to Halesworth and within 20 minutes drive to Southwold on the Suffolk Heritage Coast.
Logs Logs Logs – Family Firm delivering kiln dried logs to Norfolk and Suffolk, including Norwich, Diss and Woodbridge
Logs available in tipper loads and bulk bags for wood burning stoves, open fires and pizza ovens. In addition supplying firewood in bulk bags to Essex, Cambridgeshire, London and beyond.
Juliet Penwarden Coaching – Juliet Penwarden Coaching - Horse riding and care
Juliet is an experienced and qualified coach who places a strong emphasis on harmony between horse and rider and takes great pleasure in helping partnerships progress, whatever their goals.