THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD

AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD

“The first stroke of eleven produced a magical effect” reported the Manchester Guardian on the dedication of a temporary Cenotaph on 11 November 1919 “Someone took off his hat and with a nervous hesitancy the rest of the men bowed their heads also. Here and there an old soldier could be detected slipping unconsciously into the posture of 'attention’…everyone stood very still ... the hush deepened…and the spirit of memory brooded over it all.

It had been exactly a year since the guns on the Western Front had fallen silent. After four years of bitter fighting a similar hush had fallen across the battlefields of Flanders as an armistice between the Allies and Germany took hold. Those who’d survived breathed deeply, relieved, unable to comprehend the stillness. The scale of loss had been unimaginable, over a million British soldiers killed.

In remembrance of their sacrifice a permanent Cenotaph was commissioned the following year. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and constructed in Portland stone, it stands boldly in the midst of Whitehall. Austere but moving, simple yet gracious, no names are recorded on its sides, with few decorative embellishments apart from three furled flags to represent each of Britain’s armed services and, at each end, a carved wreath and the simple words – The Glorious Dead – chiselled into the stone. 

Rededicated to include those British and Commonwealth military and civilian service men and women killed during the Second World War and all subsequent conflicts, the Cenotaph forms the dramatic centrepiece of They Shall Grow Not Old, a poignant new triptych created by Richard Taylor as a tribute to them all.

Few symbolise our veterans more than the well-loved Chelsea Pensioners, retired British Army soldiers such as those depicted in Richard’s drawings. Instantly recognisable by their iconic scarlet uniforms dating back to the reign of Queen Anne, the Chelsea Pensioners have become a living reminder of the losses incurred by generations of British soldiers.

We will remember them.

Well-known for the precise quality of his drawings, Richard's detailed pieces have been reproduced in a single composition as a limited edition print. Completed in his 'trademark' style of graphite, wash and coloured highlights on antique buff paper, this moving tribute is sure to be popular.