Camden Remembers
Camden Council, led by the Mayor, Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, will commemorate the brave sacrifice of our citizens in conflicts around the world this November.
The Mayor, Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, and the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust, will be laying wreaths around the borough on Thursday 8, Friday 9 and Sunday 11 November.
On Sunday 11 November, the Mayor will be joined by civic, faith and community leaders, council officers, and members of the police and armed forces for this year’s Remembrance Sunday civic service at St Pancras Church on Euston Road followed by a procession to the Euston Station memorial for a wreath laying ceremony.
The service aims to bring together Camden’s diverse population to remember all those who gave their lives during the world wars and other conflicts.
To commemorate the hundredth anniversary of the Great War armistice on Sunday 11 November, the Mayor will be lighting a beacon as part of a nationwide act of remembrance in Bloomsbury Square.
This is a commemoration inspired by a comment made on 3 August 1914 by Britain’s Foreign Minister, Sir Edward Grey. He was looking out of his office window at dusk as gas lights were being lit along London’s Mall when he remarked to a friend, “The lamps are going out all over Europe; we shall not see them lit again in our lifetime.” The country was about to be plunged into the darkness of the First World War, and it would be four long years before Britain and Europe would again experience the light of peace.
“The annual act of remembrance is very important to both the council and people from all walks of life across the borough, especially as we join the countrywide commemoration of the centenary of the end of the Great War in 1918 this November with the lighting of a ceremonial beacon in Bloomsbury Square.
“I would like to invite all those who wish to be involved in this important commemorative act to join me to remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our freedom.”
“The centenary commemorations of the end of the First World War mark the final transition between living and recorded history, and is a special opportunity to create a unique piece of public art that will act as a focal point for future remembrance.
“The experienced artist we have selected to bring this project to life is Kasper Pincis. Kasper will work with Camden’s children in our schools and libraries to create poems that relate to both the armistice and the theme of peace.
“With these poems, Kasper will create a shallow relief cast in bronze that uses the words of our borough’s children to remind us of the sacrifices and the painful lessons we learn from all conflicts.”
It is intended to display publically the relief at a suitable location yet to be identified.
Thursday 8 November 2018
10.30am: Islington and St Pancras Cemetery, Finchley
Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor and Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust, Deputy Mayor
Camden and Islington wreath laying services at the war memorial and civilian memorial
Friday 9 November 2018
10.30am: Service at Whitestone Pond war memorial
Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor
10.30am: Service at Hampstead cemetery, Fortune Green, NW6
Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust, Deputy Mayor
Wreath plus flowers for the civilian memorial
10.30am: Service of remembrance, Greater London Authority
Councillor Richard Cotton
11.45am: St Michael’s, Camden Town
Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust, Deputy Mayor
Laying of wreath
12.00pm: Eversholt Street memorial, St Mary the Virgin
Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor
Laying of wreath
12.15pm: St Mary Magdalene, Munster Square
Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust, Deputy Mayor
Laying of wreath
12.45pm: Chenies Street war memorial
Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust, Deputy Mayor
Laying of wreath
1.30pm: All Hallows Church, Savernake Road
Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor
Service of remembrance with Fleet and Gospel Oak schools and laying of wreath
2.30pm: Christ Church School, Christ Church Hill, NW3
Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor
Service of remembrance
Sunday 11 November 2018
10.00am: St Pancras Church, Euston Road, NW1
Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor and Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust
Service of remembrance
10.55am: London and North Western Railway Company war memorial (In front of Euston Station)
Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor and Councillor Maryam Eslamdoust, Deputy Mayor
Act of remembrance and laying of wreaths
12.45pm: Prisoner of war WWII memorial, Mornington Crescent
Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor and Councillor Roger Robinson
Laying of wreath (Please note that the main service at the POW memorial will be at 11.00am)
Beacon lighting (Sunday 11 November)
6.40pm: Public are invited to arrive
6.50pm: Welcome by Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor of Camden
6.55pm: The Last Post performed by Christian Kiely-Charalambous from UCL Academy
7.00pm: The beacon is lit with a silence to follow
7.01pm: St. Pancras Church Choir performs – 'I vow to thee my country'
7.05pm: Bells ring in churches throughout the UK
7.06pm: Councillor Jenny Headlam-Wells, Mayor of Camden, reads poem ‘For an Ex-Far East Prisoner of War’ by Charles Causley
7.08pm: St. Pancras Church Choir performs – 'Abide with me'.
7.15pm: Event ends – Imagine by John Lennon played while people exit.
Please note that all timings are approximate as it will be dependent on length of service and traffic congestion