Just a thought for Poppy Day













Budleigh Salterton's branch of the Royal British Legion was lucky enough to be offered a shopfront for their 2009 Poppy Appeal on the High Street, so I was surprised to find them hiding away in Brook Road a few days ago.

"We have to be prepared to move to different premises in the town each year," Poppy Appeal Officer Glenn Sismore-Hunt told me. "It would be wonderful to have a permanent site in a prominent position on the High Street, but we have to accept what's on offer."














Well the exhibition that they've set up at the Brook Road site looks attractive enough, and I was interested to see this painting by Neil Rogers depicting a Luftwaffe Junkers 88 flying down Budleigh High Street during World War II. The bullet marks it left on the buildings can still be seen apparently. People in Oundle, Northamptonshire, where I used to live before moving to Budleigh, had much the same experience when a lone enemy aircraft on its way back to Germany shot off a couple of chimney pots along the main street.















David Walker (left), Glenn Sismore-Hunt (Poppy Appeal Officer) and Janet Wild at Budleigh Salterton's Royal British Legion stand in Brook Road

Our Royal British Legion branch is well supported with donations by the town's residents and I see that various groups including the Budleigh Salterton Male Voice Choir http://www.budleighmvc.co.uk/ and the local Lions Club http://www.budleighlions.org/ are involved with fund-raising events for the charity. So it could well be that someone who reads this may like to get in touch with Glenn 01395 446452 if they know that more centrally located premises are going to be available for next year's Remembrance Day. Isn't that date of 11/11/11 going to make it a special occasion?

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