Our old hospital is now the HQ of a massive building company, the former patriarch of which was a much decorated war hero who ran the infamous "Rome Escape Line" out of the Vatican.
The story of this operation to spirit Allied servicemen out of Italy via the Pope's ancestral home was made into a Hollywood film in the early 80s with Christopher Reeve and Gregory Peck, and typically wrote out all traces of British involvement to have the heroes being American.
This military connection probably explains why as of last night or perhaps earlier, this Victorian building was clad in blood red lighting and sported an enormous poppy above the door. You could see it from a long way off, and close up it looks extremely atmospheric. As well as highlighting the charity and remembrance event it wishes to commemorate.
It is so striking.
Si
All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 26.10.17