Fareham churchÂ hold moving remembrance tributeÂ

Janet Clarke leads the Remembrance Sunday service, which started outside St Peters Church in Curdridge

ItÂ was a poignant Remembrance weekend at St Peter's Church, Curdridge, as we marked 100 years since the end of the First World War.

More than 80 people visited an exhibition in the church that honoured those from the village who sacrificed their lives. It included individual histories of those from Curdridge who died and some of their poignant cards, telegrams, photos and memorabilia.

The exhibition also highlighted the role of women in the war, and life at home.

There were 29 candles kept alight on a shrine under our memorial plaque for the 29 who died from our village.

On November 10, there was a reading of the Great War poems of Siegfreid Sassoon and those of some female poets. It was a moving tribute to those who served on the homefront and the battlefront, written by their contemporaries.

On Remembrance Sunday more than 200 people, including our local uniformed groups, gathered at the War Memorial outside St Peter's Church to pay their respects to all servicemen and women who gave their lives in the wars and conflicts.

Poppy wreaths were placed in the memorial. After the names of the fallen were read and the Last Post, there were two minutes silence. Then worshippers moved into the church, following the standard bearers of the beavers, cubs and scouts from the 29th Itchen.

The flags were received at the altar at the beginning of a moving service led by Rev Jim Brasier and Janet Clarke.

Jim spoke about the meaning of the poppy. Later there was a focus on three perspex silhouettes, which were sitting in the church as part of the There But Not There initiative.

During the service, 29 candles were lit in memory of the 28 servicemen and one woman from Curdridge who died in the First World War. Then each worshipper placed a poppy in netting against the altar, creating a wave of poppies.

The church bells were rung in the evening as beacons were lit across the country as final acts of Remembrance on the day. Together with the nation, we honoured our promise to remember them.