Trains heading to London Paddington on Monday will be carrying hundreds of poppy wreaths to the station's war memorial ahead of a Remembrance Day service.

The wreaths will be placed on early morning and overnight GWR services at 90 stations along the route, including parts of Bristol, Somerset, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Devon and Cornwall.

Upon arrival at Paddington, they will be laid at the memorial on Platform 1 ahead of a service at 10:45 GMT.

The station will also be hosting a display of 22,442 cascading poppy petals recycled from wreaths collected during previous ceremonies.

The poppies will be put on trains by Royal National Lifeboat Institution [RNLI] volunteers, including many former service personnel.

The charity is this year its 200th year.

RNLI military veterans Simon Jeffery, coxswain at Plymouth lifeboat station, and Tony Rendle, mechanic at Penlee lifeboat station, will travel with the wreaths to attend the service at Paddington.

They will be joined by RNLI education and water safety volunteer Gaynor Williams, who organised a knitathon to create a large knitted poppy wreath.
Six people in yellow coats and three in darker jackets. A woman and a man are each holding a poppy wreath. They are standing on a platform next to the Totnes Castle sleeper train.Image source, Phil Monckton
Image caption,

Volunteers will place the wreaths on trains at 90 stations on Monday morning

Among those attending the service will be Margot Billinge, daughter of D-Day veteran and Normandy Memorial Trust fundraising hero Harry Billinge MBE, who passed away in 2022.

Ms Billinge will travel from her home in St Austell, Cornwall, to greet the train named in honour of her father as it arrives into Platform 1.

GWR's operations director, Richard Rowland, said "it promises to be another poignant occasion at London Paddington".

The RNLI's chief executive Peter Sparkes said the charity was "deeply honoured" to be involved this year.

"The wreaths placed onboard will represent our RNLI communities who save lives at sea, honouring those crew who have made the ultimate sacrifice over the past 200 years of the RNLI, including World War One and Two", he said.

 

Thanks for posting that, infoman.

However, your source is incorrect: today is Remembrance Day - tomorrow is Armistice Day (the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, in 1918).

 
What a wonderful idea to gather the wreaths from across the region like this. It must take a lot of effort to arrange but it’s very poignant they can assemble as they will.

 
What a very cheap shot about a very somber event,

have you no respect for those who gave their lives for all of us?

 
I am shocked at your post, infoman.

1.  I made no criticism of the event - I was just pointing out their factual inaccuracy in your source item.

2.  It is indeed a very sombre event - as was the parade at the Cenotaph this morning, led by our King.

3.  I have the greatest respect and thanks to all those who gave their lives, in both World Wars and a host of other conflicts, for all of us.

4.  I myself have a medal, awarded for loyal service in uniform, and I wear it with pride, every November.

Chris from Nailsea. 

 

I have been confused this year between Remembrance Day and Armistice Day - two very solemn days.  My thoughts are that, were I to get them mixed, I would want someone to gently enlighten me for fear I was causing a a degree of offence by saying the wrong thing.  I know Chris very well - no way would he make a deliberate cheap shot, and actually I didn't read it as such - sorry you saw it as such.

 
Chris from Nailsea,please refrain from commenting on or replying to my posts.

 

That is an unreasonable request.    Admins and moderators on the Coffee Shop are here to  - err - moderate the content which allows them to steer the forum.  We do so as a team along friendly lines and with the agreement and co-operation of our members, and whilst you may disagree with something we say or do, you really can't block us.

I have woken to this escalation, and to the thoughts of other admins and moderators who were up during the night, and I know I am writing not just as an immediate personal reaction but from the team.   Also please note this is just an initial public reaction and not necessarily a total response.

EDIT In fact ... very quick first follow up, quoting my 110% support for Chris.  I can see only a helpful post in what he wrote that caused your offence, Infoman, and I note that a number of members have made my comment the most liked recent post on the forum this morning, so I am re-assured that I have their support as well as that of the back room team.

 
Like many others here I really don’t understand how you found Chris from Nailsea’s comments offensive, infoman. You quoted an article which contained a factual error, and Chris pointed this out.

When we post things here, we accept that other members may correct us or disagree with us. This is how this forum helps us to learn and form opinions.

Behind the scenes, we do our best to ensure that debates are kept on an even keel.

If a member does not wish others to read or comment upon their thoughts, then they should not post. It is in the nature of this forum that once a member posts, anyone can respond.

 
As we have drifted away from the actual event outlined in the opening post, this thread is now locked and a report on the morning is here - http://www.firstgreatwestern.info/coffeeshop/index.php?topic=29459.0