HUNDREDS of people are expected to flock to Scotland’s beaches next Sunday to take part in Trainspotting director Danny Boyle’s Armistice event.
Organisers of the commemoration, which will take place at 32 beaches around the UK, including six in Scotland, say public interest is high with many people attending workshops preparing for the nationwide gesture of remembrance.
The National Theatre of Scotland is leading events in Scotland and a spokeswoman said hundreds of people were expected to brave the November cold to take part.
It was also announced this week that five Scottish heroes who lost their lives in WW1 are to be
commemorated by a large-scale sand portrait.
Designed by sand artists Sand In Your Eye, the images will be etched into the sand on the beaches and washed away as the tide comes in.
In addition, the public will be asked to join in by creating silhouettes of people in the sand, remembering the millions of lives lost or changed forever by the conflict.
Poet Laureate Carol Ann Duffy has been invited by Boyle to create a new work which will be read by individuals, families and communities as they gather on beaches on November 11. Copies of the poem will be available at the beaches around the UK for those who wish to come together or to offer their own personal contribution.
“Beaches are truly public spaces, where nobody rules other than the tide,” said Boyle. “They seem the perfect place to gather and say a final goodbye and thank you to those whose lives were taken or forever changed by the First World War. I’m inviting people to watch as the faces of the fallen are etched in the sand, and for communities to come together to remember the sacrifices that were made.”
The public is also invited to explore an online gallery of portraits of some of the men and women who served in WW1 and select someone to say a personal goodbye to, either via social media or as they gather in person on the beaches.
The images are drawn from the Imperial War Museum’s Lives of the First World War which aims to tell eight million stories of those who served from Britain and the Commonwealth. Visitors to the website can also add portraits of members of their family or community who contributed to the First World War.
NTS artistic director and chief executive Jackie Wylie pointed out that the First World War had a devastating impact on Scotland, with tens of thousands of young lives lost and many more forever altered.
“Our nation has an enduring and emotive connection to the sea and our beautiful coastline has seen many come and go throughout history,”
she said.
“Pages of the Sea will create an artistic tribute, both personal and communal, through art, words, pictures and stories, acknowledging all those who left our shores during WW1. As a theatre without walls, the National Theatre of Scotland welcomes this poignant opportunity to help bring communities together in this fitting act of remembrance.”
The Scottish personalities to be honoured next Sunday include suffragette Dr Elsie Inglis, who set up hospitals in brutal conditions in war-torn Europe to treat casualties. She will be commemorated at West Sands in St Andrews, where activities will begin at noon and end at 2.30pm.
Scottish war poet Captain Charles Hamilton Sorley, who was born in Aberdeen, will be commemorated at Roseisle Beach in Moray.
The public will begin to gather there at 9.30am with the event ending at around 11.30am.
The first black officer in the British Army, Second Lieutenant Walter Tull, who was also the UK’s second black professional footballer and had signed up with Rangers, will be honoured at Ayr Beach. The event there begins at 8.30am and lasts until around 11.30am.
Lieutenant Robert William Taylor has been chosen for the portrait at Scapa Beach in Orkney with the hour-long event beginning at 3.30pm.
Deckhand Duncan MacKinnon, one of six brothers who fought in the First World War, will be commemorated at Culla Bay beach on Benbecula. A teacher and shopkeeper, he drowned aged just 22. The hour-long event will begin at 3.30pm.
St Ninian’s Isle beach in Shetland will also be part of the commemorations from 1-4pm.
People who cannot make it on the day will be able to watch the activities and see the portraits on social media on Sunday 11 November. The work is the culmination of 14-18 NOW, the UK’s arts programme for the First World War centenary.
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