Field of Remembrance opens at Cardiff Castle
The official opening of the 2021 Cardiff Field of Remembrance took place this week in the grounds of Cardiff Castle ahead of Remembrance Sunday on the 14 November.
Open until 18 November, the field will be a place people can visit to remember all those who lost their lives during the two world wars and other conflicts.
Rows of crosses with poppies have been planted in the grounds in front of the castle with the names of those who have died, some of which have been written by family members.
A remembrance service marked the official opening of The Fields of Remembrance with a two-minute silence observed at 11am, prior to which a bugler played the Last Post, and the Exhortation was read.
The Exhortation is an extract from a poem written by Robert Laurence Binyon called “For the Fallen”, written in mid-September 1914, just a few weeks after the outbreak of The War.
The poem was first published in The Times newspaper on 21st September 1914.
The Exhortation
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun, and in the morning,
We will remember them.”
Response: “We will remember them.”
According to the British Legion website: “The Tributes planted in our Fields of Remembrance each bear a personal message to someone who lost their life in Service for our country.
“Every year we take great care and attention in planting thousands of personal Tributes made by members of the public throughout the UK. We start receiving Tributes for our Fields of Remembrance in September, with the Fields opening in October and November.
“Each November, we welcome members of the public from across the UK, to join us and honour the memory of loved ones who we have sadly lost, serving in our Armed Forces.”
Tributes
Last year the opening ceremony and the gardens were not open to the public due to lockdown, although the planting of the crosses took place before the closures and cancellations happened.
The Royal British Legion released a video capturing moments of the event and its build up.
The tradition of the fields of remembrance began in November 1928 when the Poppy Factory and a group of veterans established a small display of poppies planted around a cross in the grounds of St Margaret’s Church at Westminster Abbey.
The tradition has grown and continued ever since, now in its 93rd year and takes place in several locations throughout the UK hosting over 120,000 tributes.
The Field will close on Thursday 18 November. Opening times are 9.00am to 4.00pm.
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