Indirect approach

Taking advantage of better weather I went for a walk through Alrewas inadvertently adopting an indirect approach to my final destination.  Along the way there was an opportunity to buy Jan’s weekly magazines from the local Cooperative and also view some of the more interesting houses in the village.

This one looked like it was falling over in almost every direction with some walls leaning inwards and others leaning out.

It must be a challenge attempting to fit a new kitchen or bathroom.  The purpose of this next building came a quite a surprise.

According to the sign, it’s a Chinese takeaway!

Coates & Son the local butcher appeared to be very popular.  The butchers looked like it was at the back with the shop in the front.

I made my navigation error immediately after crossing the busy A38 turning right instead of walking directly ahead.  You can see my route in the map extract below.  I followed the purple route, when I should have used the more direct red route.

There was no footpath on the A513 which meant I had to be particularly vigilant.  My destination was the…….

I am aware many boaters have already visited the National Memorial Arboretum but they were probably all sensible and walked the shorter (and safer) route.

Arboretum means “a botanical garden devoted to trees”.  The National Memorial Arboretum was opened in 2001.  It is a national remembrance site which remembers service to the nation and honours the fallen.  I spent several hours wandering around looking at the various memorials.  For me, it wasn’t so poignant as interesting!  Whilst I had anticipated the memorials the plaques on many of the trees was unexpected.

One of the volunteers subsequently informed me families and interested organisations are able to pay to have a plaque installed.  I assume it’s a useful source of revenue.  The memorial to the Ammunition Technicians (AT’s) and Ammunition Technical Officers (ATO’s).

The names of the fallen were on the side of the plinth and the first thing I noticed was the majority lost their lives in Northern Ireland.

The South Iraq Memorial

It’s also named as The Basra Memorial

The Afghanistan Memorial

The golden eagle caught my eye.  It’s the memorial to the Auxillary RAF.

Whilst the Maple Leaf was a clue on this one.  It’s the Royal Canadian Air Force Memorial.

 

The railway memorial was one of the more interesting

There is a NZ link to the Battle of the River Plate Memorial.  One of the three smaller ships to attack the Graf Spee was HMS Achilles from the NZ Division.  The other two cruisers were Ajax and Exeter.  Interestingly Achilles was the first RN cruiser to have fire control radar, with the installation of the New Zealand-made SS1 fire-control radar in June 1940.

The Burma Railway Memorial consists of a length of track removed from the original railway and transported to the UK in 2002.