Laying Poppies on the Sea
The 75th Laying Poppies on the Sea Remembrance Service will take place at Queen Street Methodist Church on Sunday November 13 at 9.30am. The service first took place in 1947 and was originally based in the Mission to Seamen (Bethel Mission) on Sandside.
At that time it was strongly focused to the Royal Navy and Merchant Shipmen of the Second World War, and in particular those who braved the Atlantic and Arctic convoys, and many people used to bus in from regions as far away as Liverpool.
It outgrew its location and so moved to the St Thomas’s Church (now home of the Scarborough Sea Cadets) on East Sandgate.
That church closed late 1968 and the service then moved to its current home of Queen Street Methodist Church.
Details for the service: Standards, wreaths and cadets are asked to muster early by 9.15am.
The service will be at 9.30am on Sunday November 13 at Queen Street Methodist Church, followed by muster on Queen Street and then procession and parade to the Lifeboat Station at 10.30am with the final service commencing 10.40am before the laying of poppies on the sea shortly after 11.05am (subject to weather conditions). Revds. Graham Morgan and Pam Jennings will lead the service at Queen Street and
Rev Graham Morgan will conclude the service at the Lifeboathouse.
The church service will include the narrated and moving Drumhead Ceremony as well as the silent ‘poppy drop’ and the receiving and blessing of the standards and wreaths. Deputy Mayor Cllr Helen Mallory will also be in attendance and will recite a poignant poem by local poet, Tom Ward.
For the muster and parade after the church service the Scarborough Sea Cadets ‘base drum’ will set the pace and will lead the parade to the Lifeboathouse.
The ‘Parade Master’ for the transition to the Lifeboathouse is a senior officer of Scarborough Sea Cadets, XO Gareth Davies. Security (stewarding) for the parade will be provided by members of the Coastguard. Spectator viewing is either from the beach or on West Pier where some parking bays will be isolated for safe viewing.
A second poem, also written by Tom Ward, will be read by Roger Buxton, Local
Operations Manager at Scarborough Lifeboat Station.
Maroons will be used to tell the town of the two-minute silence at 11am. Following conclusion of the service a small group will accompany the Rev Graham Morgan on the boat ‘Skylark’ skippered by its owner and lifeboatman, Nick Gough, for the Laying of Poppies on the Sea. The Last Post and Reveille will be played at the Church and Lifeboathouse by Steve Hague.
Former lifeboatman Francis Appleby will play the organ at the Lifeboathouse. The local police and council CEOs will be supporting the progress of the parade with relevant security.
Route of the parade: Queen Street;
Left into Eastborough; Right onto Foreshore Rd at its junction with Eastborough and then immediate left into the Lifeboathouse and end of parade and start of final acts of Remembrance. Timings of parade: 10.2010.40am.