Document Type
News Article
Publication/Presentation Date
9-2019
Reflection
The UK still hasn’t left the European Union – Brexit Day is now potentially October 31; whatever your political colour, a Leaver, a Remainer or somewhere in between, an EU national or a British citizen, we wait to see what will happen. The only sure thing is that there will be change for us all.
Meantime, life goes on as it has for centuries. My granddaughter has just started at the school my sons attended, and my brother before them. Almost certainly in existence before 1476, the ‘modern’ school was founded in 1553 and re-founded in 1693. It’s oldest building dates from 1695. The school has grown in numbers and now includes girls, but old traditions remain. Recently, I met Jeff and Carlota Barwick in Oxford where the oldest university in the English-speaking world was established in 1096. The Magna Carta, the basis of our justice, fairness and human rights, was signed in 1215 and the English and Scottish Parliaments were established in the 13th Century.
This summer, we visited Maryland, named after Queen Mary of England and founded in 1634, and its State Capitol in Annapolis, the oldest state house in America still in continuous legislative use. These are all milestones in our history and much has happened since: American Independence in 1776, the Industrial Revolution, WW1 and WW2 have all changed the UK and the USA and the way we live, but our great institutions remain to educate and legislate as they have done over the centuries.
Clewiston changed in 1941 when the first RAF cadets came to the City which still proudly flies the flags of the two countries. And after 20 years, Judy Kirkpatrick has hosted her last British Memorial Day Service in Arcadia – as Judy says, “Our lives are so different now, but every year we relive that time in history”. We say ‘thank you’ to Judy on page 2. There will always be change - in our personal, national and global lives, but let us always remember those who have gone before, the lessons they have taught us and the traditions they helped to maintain which support our lives and our nations today.
‘Their efforts to preserve the freedom of the world were not in vain and will never be forgotten’
Scholarly Commons Citation
Harding, J. A. (2019). 5 BFTS Association Newsletter No 14 - September. , (). Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/bfts-clewiston-newsletters/13