Peace Day 1919…
Peace Day at The Plume of Feathers,
Festooned across its frontage
Festooned across its frontage
With traditional flags and bunting,
Yet partially hidden by ivy’s montage…
Almost as props, a horse and cart,
A soft-top automobile
And a motor cycle with side-car
Add to the set, posed, inanimate feel…
The human interest angle is wooden,
Lacking the joy of celebration,
For the muted characters, doubtless stilled,
Have dealt with death and desperation…
The scene, sedate and sanctimonious,
Staged, succoured and somnolent,
Strangely sits opposite a churchyard:
The present site of a Great War monument…
Pete Ray
December 2016
The old image from 1919 made me look and try to imagine what might have been going on at The Plume Of Feathers in Shirley, on Peace Day in that year.
The irony is that Shirley’s war memorial sits at the edge of the church’s graveyard virtually opposite the inn today…
My image of the monument was taken before its facelift.
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