The Five Day Black and White Challenge

I managed to miss being nominated for the ice bucket challenge when that was doing the rounds and it’s likely I would have refused to take part had anyone nominated me. It’s not that I don’t support charities (I make monthly donations to two and drop coins into the odd tin in between), I just don’t like being made to feel I have to give just because someone tells me to.

So, with that little pre-amble out of the way, when my photographer friend Graham Trott nominated me to take part in the Five Day Black & White Challenge on Facebook, since it isn’t tied to any kind of cause, I decided to take part because I didn’t feel I’d be letting anyone down if I didn’t. Which barely makes sense other than in a weird reverse psychology kind of a way.

Siegfried Sassoon's grave in St Andrews Church in Mells, Somerset.

Siegfried Sassoon’s grave in St Andrews Church in Mells, Somerset.

I’m only on Day 2 as I write this, and I’m just going to post today’s photo here. If you’d like to see the rest as and when they appear, please visit my Photography Facebook Page. If you click the Like button there you’ll see all future updates on that page, which I’m sure you’ll love.

Most of the photos I post during the challenge will be from my archive, but I wanted to take a photo today in connection with Armistice Day and post it on the challenge page. This was taken after I’d observed the two minute’s silence at Mells War Memorial. It shows the grave stone of Siegfried Sassoon, famous for his war poetry and prose writing and also for his mentoring of Wilfred Owen, who sadly didn’t survive the war.

I’ve been to Mells on Armistice Day a couple of times now, when work permitted, and it’s always a touching event because it’s very peaceful. School children are brought to the village memorial to observe the two minute’s silence and learn a little more about the “Great War,” but it’s perhaps a little sad that so few villagers make it down; modern life tends to get in the way for most people who end up observing the silence at their desks.

Sassoon survived the war, but he was decorated for bravery and it’s good to see someone still marks his involvement and contribution to the literature of the conflict. If you’re ever in Mells, see if you can find the grave. The church is worth a visit anyway, as is the village cafe.

 

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