"The guided walks which we have initiated to promote this project start from St Mary’s Church in Keble Street and last approximately two hours. We have been doing them regularly since the spring and they are a wonderful way to get a feel for this remarkable much-changed area and its history. They take in some significant locations relative to the Summerstown182, as well as passing the homes of about sixty of their number. All were killed in the First World War and have their names engraved on the memorial in the church. We will pause outside a number of these houses to hear their stories and something about the community they came from. There is too much to see to do all of the walk in one day, so it is split into two parts, a north section (Earlsfield) and a south section (Tooting). The next walk will be a very special one, Saturday 8th November, the day before Remembrance Sunday. We are hoping that the families of a number of the Summerstown182 will be attending and because of the occasion, we will vary the route to take in some of both parts. At the moment the walk on Saturday 6th December is scheduled to take in the southern Tooting section. All the walks start at 2pm and as we don’t always go past any shops, its a good idea to bring some water or a snack."
St Mary's Church is also holding a Remembrance Sunday service on Sunday 9th including a reading of all 182 names on the WW1 war memorial. The service begins at 10.30am.
This is a quite astonishing project whose aims and achievements are laudable in every way. I found the accompanying walk fascinating; if you get the opportunity to go on it, grab it.
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