This is the 30th year that a group of like minded local people has thrown flowers on water to recall the dreadful day when the greatest mass slaughter ever took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It started during the Falklands War.
Newport’s Tredegar House grounds were at their ravishing best in the evening sunshine. A family of swans has adopted the lakeside memorial spot as their habitat.
It is a reflection of the ceremony in Hiroshima when lights are floated down the river in memory of the lost souls. In 1982 flowers were cast into the River Usk from the town bridge. This was not possible when the second highest tide in the world was low. Throwing flowers on to the mud does not have the same symbolism. The event was moved to the lake at Newport's Tredegar House.
The great local peace campaigners Rev Cyril Summers and David Morris MEP have died. So have many other regular attenders. To the rest of us, our affection for the annual event deepens with the year. It's our chance to restore our faith in peace campaigning.
Tonight there were several young people present who paid their respects.
Among the speakers was Hilda Smith who has a life long distinguished record of service in the Labour party and in the Co-operative movement. Today is the 67th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing.
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