An old Saxon church and echoes of world wars
Recently, the children from our small school in Breamore started their day with a Harvest Festival service in the old 
Saxon village church which is over 1,000 years old.
Rural life has not changed much for generations.
The Breamore Estate, set in beautiful Hampshire countryside has some 300 inhabitants, many of them living in old thatched cottages. The main Breamore House is where General Patton stayed in the run up to the D-Day landings.
Anyway, back to the Harvest Festival. The school classes, represented by each year, sang and gave a little performance to do with the harvest. One child comes from South Africa, one from the Czech Republic, one from Thailand, and another from Botswana, so there was a story of what harvest would mean to the people of those countries.
Life doesn’t change much in Breamore. The ‘lolly-pop’ lady (see footnote), Jinny, who for 25 years saw the children across the road morning and evening, and for which she received a medal from the Queen, played the organ, and there was the customary hymn, ‘All Things Bright and Beautiful’. Jinnie’s husband, Bob, was there and before electricity Bob used to pump the bellows of the church organ.
Mention was made about some lights which were being set up for a little production in the evening, to do with fund raising for the church, where the story would be told about “ The Midnight Truce”
In Christmas of 1914, during The First World War, some Germans and English left their trenches, greeted each other, and swapped presents. A 25 year-old Army Captain by the name of Sir Edward Hulse from the Scots Guards was there,
and he sent back details of this event to his Mother, who in turn wrote to the Times newspaper, who published the record of this day.
The play of the event was acted using correct uniforms, and it was so real that it was possible to imagine being there, observing the famous event that occurred. What was so real was that this young man had originally lived in Breamore House and had been sitting in the front pew in this very church in 1914 before he went to war, a war from which he never returned; by March 1915 the young Sir Edward was killed in action.
A stained glass window in the church, a memorial plaque on the wall, and a village hall are in memory of this young man who is now helping to inspire us to raise funds for the upkeep of such a wonderful building, full of history, worship, and peace.
And this evening, as these memories swirl around the congregation, the present Sir Edward Hulse sits next to me.
By Bob Derham
Footnote: The term ‘lollypop’ lady is given to the myriad of women who voluntary help children across busy streets on their way to and from school. Rumour has it that some men are ‘lollypop’ ladies! Here’s a pic. [Ed.] 
Learning from Dogs 