Lathom Park Chapel commemorates the Fallen with acts of Remembrance

Lathom Park Chapel in this centenary year since the end of the 1st World War, will be commemorating the Fallen with a number of acts of Remembrance during the summer, culminating in an Armistice Day service on 11th November. The congregation at the Chapel want to commemorate the Fallen and recognise the sacrifices made by so many. The hope is to reach out to everybody young and old to remember the Fallen, the injured and battle-scarred soldiers not only of the Great War but of subsequent wars.

The Remembrance acts have already started in several different ways. Through joining in with the There but Not There National Project which aims to place a representative figure for as many as possible of the names of the fallen on local war memorials, around the country with the installation of silhouettes in places of worship, schools, work places and other public places. The Chapel now has (through the generosity of local industry, charities, and private donations) a number of transparent silhouettes installed, along with two life size Tommies which are themselves symbols of Remembrance. Both the silhouettes and the Tommy figures have been created by the Charity Remembered as part of their project There but Not There. The figures will remain in the Chapel until after our Remembrance Day Service on 11th November 2018.

The Chapel has services every Sunday at 11am and from May to September is open Sunday afternoons from 2pm to 4pm. We very much want to encourage as many people/organisations/schools etc. as possible to come and see them as part of their Acts of Remembrance.

We are endeavouring to work along-side and involve the local community as much as possible.
The Chapel ladies are currently busy knitting poppies to create a cascade of poppies from the pulpit for our Remembrance Day Service. Poppy seeds have been sown in the grounds.

A local artist is carving in wood the names of the Fallen from Lathom. The Artist has said that this is an honour and a privilege to carve the names.

The Chapel is in the grounds of Lathom Park which was during the 1st World War a Remount Depot where almost 250,000 war horses and mules were trained before being sent to the front to work with the troops fighting there.

As part of our acts of Remembrance two War Horse Walks have been planned. This walk retraces the route the horses would have taken once they had been off loaded from the trains at Ormskirk. The first walk took place during the May Bank holiday weekend when over 150 people took part in a walk to commemorate the role of the War horses and mules. Talks were given on route about the history of the War Horse and the Depot. On arrival the ladies of the chapel served tea and home-made cakes to the walkers. A second War Horse walk will take place on Saturday 8 September 2018.

Lathom Park Chapel is part of Ormskirk Parish. The Parish Church will have a performance of the play ‘Brothers in Arms’ written by Rev. David Banbury. This is a deeply moving play about Noel and Christopher Chevasse, twin brothers who served together with great distinction during the in the Great War. The performance will take place on Tuesday 20th November at Ormskirk Parish Church.

The Chapel’s final act of Remembrance will take place on 11th November when we will have a Remembrance Day Service starting at the War Memorial in Lathom and then moving up to and finishing at the Chapel. The Chapel will then remain open after the service until 4pm in the afternoon for anybody who would like to can come along as their Act of Remembrance. Skelmersdale Silver Band will be playing in the Chapel during the afternoon of the 11th.

The Chapel has a service every Sunday at 11am please see our Website for more details. www.lathomparkchapel.org

If you would like to view the Chapel with the installations please contact sallybaker21@btinternet.com