9/11 anniversary: services and ceremonies held throughout UK

Relatives of British victims of World Trade Centre attacks attend service at Grosvenor chapel, near US embassy in London Church services and ceremonies, including services at St Paul’s cathedral and Westminster Abbey, are being held across Britain to commemorate the 67 Britons among the 2,977 who died in the 9/11 attacks on the US in 2001. Relatives of the victims attended a service at the Grosvenor chapel, near the US embassy in London, where the deputy US ambassador, Barbara Stephenson, lit a memorial candle. Prayers were read for hundreds of members of the emergency services who died 10 years ago. Canon Jim Rosenthal said: “Remembering such horrific scenes is not easy. But remembrance is not static – it’s a constantly growing and evolving action, which gives us the opportunity to take hold of the past and transform it to reach out with grace, understanding and healing.” On Sunday afternoon, the families will attend a ceremony in the September 11 memorial garden in Grosvenor Square, opposite the embassy, with a minute’s silence taking place and 67 white roses being laid. At St Paul’s, 2,000 people attended a “remembering with hope” service, which also marked the 20th anniversary of the Firefighter’s Memorial Trust. UK firefighters laid a wreath at the memorial outside Westminster Abbey in memory of the 243 members of the New York fire department who were killed. The day will end with a service of remembrance and reconciliation at Westminster Abbey. The service also marks Awareness Sunday, part of a campaign by the Awareness Foundation, an international charity founded in 2003 in response to the rise in religious conflict and violence across the world. The Archbishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, a patron of the foundation, was two blocks away from the Twin Towers at the time of the attack. He recalled on the BBC Radio 2 Sunday programme : “The first thing we wanted to do, of course, was to sit and pray, and that’s what we did … we did that as we heard the unforgettable noise of the first tower coming down.” In Cornwall, there was a minute’s silence at the memorial stone in Hayle, the birthplace of Rick Rescorla, a director of security at Morgan Stanley, who led thousands of workers to safety, singing Cornish songs to keep their spirits up. Rescorla was last seen climbing the stairs of a burning tower to help evacuate more people. In Devon, bell-ringers played John Lennon’s Imagine on the bells of Exeter cathedral. There were also ceremonies and services in Birmingham, Plymouth, Truro and in Northern Ireland. In Scotland, faith leaders and politicians will join a peace walk in Edinburgh, the deputy first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is attending an inter-faith service at Cathcart Old Parish church in Glasgow, and the first minister Alex Salmond is attending a service at St Nicholas Kirk in Aberdeen. September 11 2001 Global terrorism Maev Kennedy guardian.co.uk

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