I believe the quote “You know you’re getting old when you go to more funerals than you do weddings” is attributed to the country singer (not the actor) Jimmy Dean. I was reminded of it earlier this week, having attended four funerals (three in person, one virtually) in as many months, and not even a sniff of confetti. Sadly, we have said goodbye to three more village stalwarts in the last month alone (apologies if there are others).

Some of you may have known Dave Crackles in his role as a local dog walker. To me, he was a trustee (and secretary) of the Memorial Hall and a friend. We joined the committee around the same time (Dave outlasted me), and as fellow military historians, we would occasionally meet for coffee at the National Archives in Kew. His contributions to the running and maintenance of the Memorial Hall are significant, and the world is a lesser place without him.

Likewise, Tony Woolven, one of our local unsung heroes, who epitomised community spirit. Over the years, his voluntary work with the Platt Scouts enhanced the lives of so many of our young people (including my own children), and he was the architect of the current Scout hut and many other community spaces and initiatives in the area.

On Tuesday, another chapter in parochial history came to a close when Mike Varney-Burch joined his wife, Sarah, who passed away just before Christmas. I took to Mike instantly when I first met him in 2014, and, like Dave, he was a trustee of the Memorial Hall and, for many years, its treasurer. I always found him extremely charismatic and very funny with a twinkle in his eye. Like so many others at the time, he threw himself into fundraising for the new hall with enthusiasm and commitment.

Mike and Sarah lived in Platt for very nearly fifty years, and as I walked back through the churchyard following the burial, I read the names of numerous families who had all played their parts in village life and have since passed into local history – Bowen, Broad, Bennett, Wolfe, Higgins, Pascall, Collings, to name but a few. Hopefully, in years to come, a future Platt historian will write about Dave, Tony, Mike and Sarah and celebrate their legacies in the same way as those who came before them.

This is Platt on 11 March 2026.