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WELCOME
This website was originally set up by my son, Thomas, in December 2010 to publicise and record his efforts to raise money for Help for Heroes and, more specifically, for the Personnel Recovery Centre, Tedworth House. You can read all about exactly what he did in the Anthem and Cycle Ride sections of the site as well as in the blogs from December 2010 to July 2011 but briefly:
- Tom commisioned Ben Parry to write an Anthem 'Went the Day Well?' based upon two epitaphs written by John Maxwell Edmonds in 1918.
Went the day well?
We died and never knew.
But, well or ill,
Freedom, we died for you.
Went the day well?
When you go home,
Tell them of us and say,
"For your tomorrows,
These gave their todays".
- He arranged a most wonderful concert at St Paul's Cathedral on the 29th June 2011 at which the anthem was premiered by the St Paul's Choristers in the presence of Her Royal Highness The Duchess of Gloucester. Tom played the horn, Jonathan, my eldest son, played percussion, and Harry, my youngest, who is one of the St Paul's Choristers, sang the solo part of the anthem. It was a truly memorable evening;
- He arranged for the anthem to be recorded by the St. Paul's Choristers to CD and this was made available for sale on-line. Please download the single from iTunes and remember to write a glowing review. If you would like a copy of the CD please e-mail us via our Contact Us page;
- He organised a cycle ride from John O'Groats to Land's End, on which he was accompanied by a school friend Alex Bridle and me, in July 2011. We did it in nine days and you can read about it in the cycle blog.
Just over £26,500 was raised for Help for Heroes!
We would like to thank all of you who contributed to this fabulous total. The JustGiving site was finally closed in September 2012.
The website has now changed and is predominantly a family record although it does include four other interesting sections.
The 'Went the Day Well?' original articles
- These are articles written by friends and family - as well as a few from people who have submitted something on-line having come across this website - which describe a day that was memorable to the author in one way or another. Please read them; many are excellent. We are very pleased to receive articles from anyone who would like to contribute.
Wesley Roddie's 'Letters to a Young Methodist'
- Wesley Roddie was my wife Mary's paternal grandfather. He was a popular minister in the Methodist Church in Ireland in the first half of the 20th century and enjoyed a widespread reputation as an excellent preacher.
He wrote a regular invited column in an Irish Methodist weekly, the Irish Christian Advocate, between 1925 and 1930 dealing with the problems being faced by the young in which he gave advice on how to tackle them. Many of these were preserved by Mary's father and Mary gave permission for them to be published on this site. Over a period of about eighteen months I added fourteen of these articles to this website; they are all very well written and most contain advice which remains pertinent today. Click on the link above and have a read.
Ian Roddie's writings
- Ian Roddie was Mary's much loved father who unfortunately died in 2011. He was Professor of Physiology at Queen's University in Belfast. He was an inspiring teacher and one of the best speakers to whom I have had the pleasure to listen, being able to keep his audience attentive throughout because of his obvious knowledge and love of the subject about which he spoke combined with his wonderful Irish humour. He was also, fortunately for us, a great believer in the importance of historical documents and maintained a detailed record of his family and academic life including transcripts of all of his major speeches and publications.
- As of February 2014 I have added a new page to this website called 'Ian Roddie' on which I will, from time to time, be adding little snippets from his documented memoirs that will, I am sure, be of great interest to many.
The 'Blog'
- I hesitate to suggest that the Blog page, mainly written by me, is of great interest but I hope that it provides occasional amusement.
Finally, it is important that we acknowledge the immense help and advice that we have received throughout from Tom's uncle, Neville Hockley. Not only did he help set up the website including the fantastic moving logo in the top left hand corner of each page, he also helped design the posters and flyers for the St. Paul's Cathedral Concert, the logos for the side of the support van during the cycle ride and the CD booklet. If you want to know more about him and his wife, Catherine - their website really is worth a look - then follow this link: zeroXTE
James Jackson
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