I went to St Luke’s Bombed Out Church today to scan the Christmas Truce statue, I have been after this one for a long time and the timing couldn’t have been better. The whole place has been turned into a glowing Garden of Light, with more than 2,000 illuminated steel flowers set up in support of Clatterbridge Cancer Charity.
I scanned the statue using the Otter Lite, and the sun was really strong today. The light bouncing off the steel flowers looked great, but it did make the scan a bit tricky. The glare kept catching the sensor, so I had to work around that, but once I found the right angles the Lite handled it well.
While I was there, I worked watching the Clatterbridge Cancer Charity volunteers setting up the display. Seeing them prepare the flowers and reading some of the dedications really stopped me for a moment. This one hit home a bit. I lost my mum to cancer years ago, and being in the middle of a tribute like this brought a few memories back.
The statue, All Together Now by Andy Edwards, marks the 1914 Christmas Truce where British and German soldiers stepped out of the trenches and shared a brief moment of peace. Scanning it today, surrounded by thousands of glowing flowers, felt like two stories connecting a historic moment of humanity and a modern tribute filled with love, strength and remembrance.
The Garden of Light runs from 20 November to 5 December, with flowers designed by Emma Rodgers and arranged by Pip Probart. Visitors can dedicate a flower in memory of a loved one, with proceeds supporting cancer patients across Merseyside and Cheshire.
It’s a beautiful thing to see in person..
