Poppies on Parade - Stonecross Traditional Cache
Poppies on Parade - Stonecross
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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This joins a series of caches started by Mr Nibbler.
This war memorial is tucked away, just off the A10. There is an unmarked turning (opposite Arbuckles diner), but please approach with care (from the south, to avoid crossing this busy road). This can also be reached on foot from Downham. There is parking, but during the week be aware that the industrial units at the site are in use.
We hope you take a moment to reflect and pay your respects.
The cache is NOT on the memorial itself.
This memorial, erected on the site of an ancient stone cross on the boundary of the parishes of Bexwell and Ryston, honours two friends who were killed in action in France on the same date a year apart. The first, Lionel Henry Pratt, was the son of the squire of Ryston Hall; the second, Charles Dean Prangley, was the son of the rector of Bexwell.
Second Lieutenant Lionel Henry Pratt was born on 17 December 1889, the third son of Edward Roger Murray Pratt and Louisa Frances Pratt of Ryston Hall. He served in the 18th Battalion of the London Regiment (London Irish Rifles) and was killed on 25 September 1915 in the Battle of Loos, aged 25. He is buried in a mass grave at Maroc British Cemetery, Grenay.
Second Lieutenant Charles Dean Prangley, known as 'Doox', was born in 1897, the son of Charles Wilton Prangley and Elizabeth Prangley of Bexwell Rectory. His mother died when he was two. He served in the 1st Battalion of the Lincolnshire Regiment and was killed on 25 September 1916 at the Battle of Morval on the Somme, aged 19. He is buried at the Guards' Cemetery in Les Boeufs. His father Revd Prangley commissioned a local corn merchant, George Smith of Downham Market, to produce a commemorative book with illuminated pages, which is now kept in St George's Memorial Church in Ypres. The photographs of Doox in the book are mounted on silk from his mother's wedding dress; the covers are made of wood from the garden of Bexwell Rectory; and the gold cross on the cover is made from his mother's wedding ring. The wooden cross that originally marked Doox's grave in France is hanging in St Mary's Church, Bexwell.
"All that we had we gave
All that was ours to give
Freely surrendered all
That you in peace might live
In trench and field and many seas we lie
We who in dying shall not ever die
If only you in honour of the slain
Shall surely see we did not die in vain."
The memorial is Grade II-listed because
* It is a poignant reminder of the impact of world events on the local communities of Bexwell and Ryston
* It demonstrates how the tragedy of the First World War united people from different social spheres
* The remains of an ancient stone cross are incorporated into the fabric
In 2011, 2 local youngsters on a cycle ride spotted the memorial in a very dilapidated state and were determined to clean it up. Encouraged by their parents and entering the project for a Duke of Edinburgh award, the local Royal British Legion gave them the funds to acquire the tools and provide ground cover of bark and pavings. Today the site and memorial is in a clean and proud condition.
The cache is a small plastic box, suitable for trackables.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
va vil-pbirerq gerr