War Cemetery, Etaples

This beautiful poem, titled “Time stands still” was written by Danielle Wootton after a visit to Etaples military cemetary in northern France, where her great grandfather, private William Horn was interred after he was killed there in the First World War, aged 32.

Time stands still for war graves covered in dust,
Surrounded by toiling gardeners not able to forget the bones beneath their feet,
Death fails to distinguish between national pride they are now soldier’s simply lying side-by-side,
Some made enemies in life for reasons not of their own,
Buried beneath headstones constructed from limestone brought as a memorial from home,
How the graves dazzle’s when the sun is out,
Looking all dressed up in their Sunday best here they wait in lines for people who may never come,
Other graves witness relative’s secrets untold to the living, The graves have no voice to care, they are at peace now,
Sorrow now rests with relatives who mourn a person they never knew but will never forget,
When the wind rustles through the graves shaking the trees, it is time for the relatives to leave, with their hearts on their sleeves,
The graves let out a sigh and yawn they can go back to sleep as their duty has
passed on,
Time has stood still for the graves but not for us

Time Stands Still being read by Paul Kelly at Danny Boyle’s Pages of the Sea event in Weymouth in 2018.

King Alfred

The statue of King Alfred in Winchester

UPDATE: THE BOOK, KING ALFRED: A MAN ON THE MOVE is now published and is available through bookshops and Amazon, through the link here

My name is Dr Paul Kelly and I am writing a book on King Alfred the Great. The adventure started when I accompanied my partner to Winchester and found myself at the former site of Hyde Abbey, the last known location of King Alfred’s remains. I was struck by the absence of visitors. I have since been back a few times and it has been the same (except a few local residents, joggers and dog walkers). I am also a repeat visitor to Athelney, on the Somerset Levels, perhaps one of the most significant sites in English history. It is where King Alfred set up camp as a first step in wresting back his kingdom of Wessex from the Vikings. Usually it is just me and some sheep. So I started to develop an idea about a book that would raise the profile of these places and inspire people to visit and appreciate them. It soon started to grow into something bigger as I realised how much there was to learn and pass on. Despite trying to focus down on what really happened, I also came across numerous legends and mysteries surrounding King Alfred’s life and I decided to include these as well. There are quite a few books on King Alfred, but I feel that I have created something original. There will be a few ideas that are not particularly main stream, but I have followed the evidence, such as it is. The book is aimed at a general readership andI hope that it will be read by all those with an interest in King Alfred, the Anglo-Saxons, and English history in general. I have been writing a blog on King Alfred, which has much more information, and there is also a website for the book. There is even a Youtube channel!