IT was brief and it was dignified. The sunset ceremony in Wootton Bassett marked the end of four years of support for the families and colleagues, and respect for the dead on their way to Oxford’s John Radcliffe Hospital. Respect was everywhere. With the school holidays drawing to a close, one might have expected Hannah, Zoe and Amy, three 17-year-old friends, to have found something to do more in keeping with their age on a sunny evening.

But as Hannah said, they wanted to show they cared.

Two hooded lads dismounted from their skateboards on which they had thundered through the precinct to the flagpole outside the town’s post office. Removing their hoods and tucking the boards under their arms, they stood silently waiting for the union flag to be lowered for the last time.

The town’s four-year role had not been a Whitehall-inspired gesture. It came from the hearts of a few people in this small Wiltshire town and had grown far beyond anyone’s expectations.

There were 53 Royal British Legion standards on parade and the town band played what music was needed for the 11-minute ceremony.