You will all have seen the news about the terrorist attack in France resulting in the death of 5 people including Colonel Arnaud Beltrame.

Having lived in and around London in the ’70s and ’80s I hadn’t imagined that I would be so shaken by a terrorist attack almost on our doorstep.

By our doorstep I mean somewhere that is 20 minutes or so drive from where we live and somewhere that we used to visit twice a day, 5 or 6 days a week and our son lived in for two years.

Trebes is a sleepy little town, a dormitory suburb of Carcassonne where some 5,000 people live. Even Carcassonne isn’t that big perhaps 50,000 people live there.

In a village such as Trebes I would imagine that nearly every one of the 5,000 people knew, by sight if not by name, one of the people killed in the attack.

It makes you think about what you believe in and what really matters.

Grahame Pigney.