The Reading of Names – Monday 5th to Saturday 10th November 2018

At 4:30 each day of this Remembrance week, Monday to Saturday, before Choral Evensong at Hereford Cathedral at 5:30, the names of all the men and women from Herefordshire – some 3,200 – who fell in the First World War will be read out, with their full names, service and, where appropriate, their decorations.

Today was the first day and some 525 names were read out as part of a very simple service. A number of the readers had direct family connections with one of the names that they read out. Very moving indeed.

There is an exhibition at the West end of the Cathedral nave of exhibits prepared by many of the Herefordshire schools in remembrance of WWI. This is a very powerful set of letters, poems and prices that demonstrate that the artists have really  got under the skin of the terrible events of 100 years ago.