There are certain days when one prays for the sun to shine and the day of the International Brigade Memorial Trust Annual Commemoration ceremony is one of them. This is always a very moving, open air, event where old friends and comrades gather to remember the brave men and women who volunteered to go to Spain in the 1930s to fight fascism. This year was one when such prayers for clement weather were not quite answered. The weather forecast suggested that anything could happen and pretty much everything did.
As the time for the start of the ceremony drew closer, the wind began to pick up and the cloudy skies turned ominously dark. As the opening addresses by leading figures in the IBMT were being delivered, spots of rain began to fall. By the time we went on, the rain was falling fast and, resourceful to the last, a shield of umbrellas was hoisted above us by IBMT members and an impromptu marquee was formed to allow us to play The Bite. The song was well received by the 200 or so attendees – even though they had to watch it through the rain, with Rob and I hunched over our guitars like mean rock guitarists - as we tried to keep the key parts of our instruments from getting wet.
Then, I am pleased to report, the rain cleared off as quickly as it began (in fact, about 10 seconds after we came off) and the ceremony was able to proceed, uninterrupted other than by occasional spots of rain. Thankfully, it had just been us that had been unlucky.
The unveiling of a new plaque to commemorate the Brigaders was unveiled by Spanish Civil War veteran David Lomon was very moving as was the wreath laying. There was a powerful performance by Spanish singer-songwriter and committed Republican, Paco Marin, who had travelled from La Rioja to play at the event. The speech by Rodney Bickerstaffe was characteristically insightful and pugnacious. There was a tribute paid to the Brigaders and a special commemorative flag presented to David Lomon by the ‘Amigos’ organisation – the Spain-based organisation, Friends of the International Brigades.
As the ceremony proceeded, there was highly thought provoking poetry from performance poet, Francesca Beard, and there were wonderful renditions of both The Valley of Jarama and Jamie Foyers by the extremely talented and hugely personable rising Scottish folk star, Ewan McLennan. As is traditional, the event concluded with a hearty rendition of The Internationale.
Many of those attending then made their way to a local pub for lunch. In addition to good beer and ‘just-what-the doctor-ordered naughty hi-carb indulges’ for lunch, there was also a space laid out in the beer garden for more playing. Rob and I, with another commitment to go to in the evening, had the chance to go first and played Navajos and Pirates, Only for Three Months and we reprised The Bite. Sadly, I then had to go and rescue the car from a local car park before time ran out on it. Having been faced with taking out a second mortgage to pay for the four hours I had bought, I confess I had baulked at the cost for 6 hours – silly me. However, in the going and getting of the car and bringing it back to the pub so that we could pack up the gear and gobble down some food, I managed to miss further performances by both Ewan Mclennan and Paco Marin – doubly silly me.
However, Rob and I were able to hear Geoff Lawes play some of his compositions relating to the Spanish Civil War. Geoff has been very good to us over recent times, especially in promoting our recent Radio 4 programme through Mudcat Cafe and elsewhere. He has also, through his emails, given us much encouragement and advice over recent years. So, it was great to meet him and wonderful to hear him play.
By now in hazy high cloud, we packed up the van and set off back to Hertfordshire – where it later rained furiously – exactly as it had done when we had set off that morning. However, between the rain bursts, we had once again experienced a most moving occasion remembering real heroes and heroines. We had also met some great new people and experienced some great performances. I had also met some long lost relatives at the event; relatives I’d not seen for over 30 years. It was lovely to meet them again after so long. A great day.