Had a bit of a sad day today. After my dad died three weeks ago, we had to move my mum down here into a residential home very quickly. We think we've done her proud, and she seems happy where she is now, just ten minutes from our house, even after a 300-mile journey (she's pretty disabled and ninety years old). It's been a tough few weeks but we're getting there. This afternoon we were talking about her Uncle Jimmy, my great uncle, who died at Gallipoli in 1915. He was my grandad's older brother and my childhood parish priest's (Father Davis, a good Salford lad) best friend. I mentioned Uncle Jimmy in an earlier post. We've been watching the Albert Hall WWI commemoration tonight. I love Roses Are Shining In Picardy, as I heard it so many times as a little lad on my dad's gramophone, sung by the incomparable Peter Dawson. Then Bryn Terfel led a lovely rendition of Amazing Grace, which totally wrecked me, as I'd played it on my harmonica at my dad's funeral. No-one on this planet knew more about WWI than my dad, and he was famous oop north for his illustrated talks on the topic. What a pity he didn't make it to this weekend. I have hundreds of his slides to work through.

I'll be doing the Rumps walk very soon to visit the Laurence Binyon plaque. We need a nicer day than the ones we've been having lately!