Last Saturday I has the privilege of attending the unveiling of the new war memorial in Epworth. Credit must go to those members of the Royal British Legion who have worked so hard on this project. As anyone who has ever sat through one of my lessons on World War One or World War Two will attest, remembering those who have served our nation in conflict is something I am passionate about.

Following the ceremony I was able to speak to a number of veterans including one who had served in the Polish Brigade in World War Two. Although we only had a brief chat, I was fascinated to hear about his time serving in Italy. We really do owe people like him a great amount of gratitude and I am pleased that there seems to be renewed interest in remembering those who served not only in the two major conflicts of the 20th century, but also in the countless other conflicts Britons have fought in the world over.

This renewed interest is something I have noticed in the classroom where young people seem genuinely interested in learning more about the conflicts of the past and in remembering those who served our nation. Although I do not get as much free time as I would like, when I do I often spend it working on my research into my family who served in World War One. I recently found the full service record of one of my Great Grandfathers and am now busy piecing together his war story. He did serve 4 years and 252 days on the Western Front and so he certainly has quite a story! Needless to say he came back from war with a medal for gallantry which nobody knew about and simply slipped back into ordinary life as a postman.

Less inspiringly, I also recently attended the East Riding Council's 'On the Road' event in Snaith which was held at the Sports Hall in Snaith. The concept of empowering local residents to come and raise issues of concern with the leaders of East Riding Council is a good one. However, I did find the way in which these events are structured a little stale. Still, at least the Council bothered to make the effort to get out into the community and meet with local people.