Shropshire Star

Remembrance Sunday set to be very different to previous years

Community organisations are hastily rearranging Remembrance plans after Boris Johnson announced a second national lockdown.

Published
Last updated
Reverend Dr Tom Atfield, Helen Mcphil and fundraiser Caroline Thewles at the Wilfred Owen memorial

Parades and ceremonies had been organised at war memorials throughout the county, with social distancing and Tier 1 guidelines in place.

But following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Saturday, many have been cancelled or changed to accommodate the latest restrictions.

In Shrewsbury, the town council is working to confirm any alterations. Councillors had planned to hold a small wreath-laying ceremony at the war memorial in the Quarry on Remembrance Sunday, with mayor Phil Gillam among the attendees.

Members of the public were going to be asked to pay their respects online although, given Shropshire was in Tier 1, measures were being planned to allow some people to watch the proceedings in person, with markings due to be made on the ground so people could separate in their bubbles of up to six.

Residents are still being encouraged to pay their respects through online streams and the town council is working to see whether a private ceremony can take place.

On Armistice Day next Wednesday, Councillor Gillam was to join members of the town’s Royal British Legion at Shrewsbury Castle to observe the two minutes silence. The town council is expecting to confirm alterations in the next few days.

Reverend Dr Tom Atfield, Helen Mcphil and fundraiser Caroline Thewles at the Wilfred Owen memorial

In Bridgnorth, residents are also being asked to mark the occasion with two minutes’ silence at home.

Members of the town’s Royal British Legion are due to attend the war memorial with Rev Simon Cawdell, mayor Kirstie Hurst-Knight and a representative of the Queen, to perform a small private ceremony.

John Whitty, chairman of the legion’s Bridgnorth branch, said: “The Last Post and Reveille, and flag ceremony will still continue with the act of Remembrance, commencing at 11am.

“Myself and a uniformed member of the services can conduct that salient ceremony with the lockdown restrictions from November 5.”

Plans in Much Wenlock have been cancelled, and residents are instead being asked to pay their respects at home and online.

A projection can be seen on the side of the Parish Church, which shows Remembrance displays.

In Newport, a private ceremony is set to take place on Sunday, with the public being asked to stay at home.

More Covid-19 coverage:

Mayor Peter Scott said: “We are recording a service which will be live streamed on Facebook, YouTube and Nova FM on Sunday, and lockdown will affect it.

“There is an outdoor service on Sunday by invite only. We are not encouraging people to attend.

“A town council service will take place at the cemetery on Armistice Day on Wednesday by invitation only – all Covid rules will be followed.”

Lawley and Overdale Parish Council is inviting people to join a virtual Remembrance service this year.

Available online from Sunday, the virtual Remembrance service is hoped to be a touching tribute to the veterans of Britain, the council said. Filmed at the Lawley War Memorial, the virtual service will feature guest speakers from the clergy, as well as wreath laying by local police, school children, and veterans associations, with music recorded by veterans and residents from parish.

Market Drayton, with its longstanding connections to nearby military bases, is usually packed for the service on Remembrance Sunday.

But the latest restrictions means that organisers this year are telling people to stay away from the war memorial in the town centre.

Instead, they will be providing a packed virtual programme of prayers, messages, musical performances and laying of wreaths, including by town mayor Roy Aldcroft and North Shropshire’s MP Owen Paterson.

All of the town’s churches are involved in the video, which is largely being produced by town councillor Mike Smith and expert Jeremy Blandford.

100-year-old veteran Bill Judd is to lay a wreath on Remembrance Sunday

One of those to lay wreaths is 100-year-old Royal Navy veteran Bill Judd, who celebrated his birthday just days before the first lockdown, in March. Bill, who still turns out at the town’s Royal British Legion every week for a complimentary pint of ale, will lay a wreath on behalf of the Royal Navy.

He served as a naval gunner in the defensively equipped merchant ship (DEMS) division, and survived his boat being sunk by a German submarine.

He said he felt lucky that he had been able to see his family and friends from his native Cardiff before the first lockdown, and that he would be observing Remembrance whatever comes.

“It was an honour to be asked. I am so lucky [the birthday party] was on the Saturday as lockdown started.”

In Newtown, Mid Wales, members of the community of all ages have got behind Councillor Joy Jones’s initiative to decorate the cenotaph garden in the town with painted rocks and knitted poppies.

In Ellesmere, poppy-painted rocks are also being created and taken to public areas throughout the town, and also at the churches. Parades and events have been cancelled in Wellington, although the council has worked to create a Remembrance video that will be published on Sunday.

Councillors in Bishop’s Castle are set to hold a small outdoor service following Covid guidelines, although access to the town’s cenotaph will be restricted.

A live stream will also be shown on social media for those unable to attend.

This week a ceremony was held to mark the anniversary of the death of Shropshire’s Great War poet Wilfred Owen, as work was completed on the restoration of a memorial in his honour.

A service was conducted at Shrewsbury Abbey by the Rev Dr Tom Atfield, vicar of the parish of Holy Cross, the congregation afterwards moving outside for a ceremony at the memorial in the abbey grounds, and the laying of silk poppies.

Still time to support Poppy fund despite crisis, say organisers

It is still not too late to support this year’s poppy appeal, say fundraisers in the county.

Volunteers and supporters of the Royal British Legion in Shropshire are urging people who have not yet done so to buy a poppy, either in person from the sellers around the county, online, or by telephone.

Gina Thandi, of the Royal British Legion in the Midlands, said the charity’s work was more important than ever. She said the coronavirus outbreak was creating new hardships for veterans of all generations, including social isolation, financial difficulties and unemployment, as well as bereavement and the threat of homelessness. Mrs Thandi said the virus would also make raising funds more difficult this year, but added the legion had created a range of ways for people to show their support.

She said poppies were on sale in branches of Sainsbury’s, Tesco, Morrisons, Aldi, and Asda stores across the county, and many other shops would also be stocking them.

People can buy online poppies on the Royal British Legion’s websites, which can be printed off to display in a window. Versions are available both in colour, or in outline form for children to colour in.

No parades or services as closed events to be put on

There will be a closed service at the Town Memorial Garden

Montgomery’s annual commemoration for those who gave their lives in the two World Wars and all subsequent wars will have a different ‘feel’ this year, due to the Covid pandemic.

There will be a brief closed service at the Town Memorial Garden on November 8, together with the laying of wreaths, and The Last Post will be sounded at 11am. There will be no parade or church service, and members of the public are asked not to enter the Memorial Garden at the time of the service this year.

Traffic control is kindly being organised by the Montgomery football club and anyone passing on foot at the time of the service will be asked to remain along the outer pavements of Chirbury and Pool Roads.

The possibility of live streaming the act of remembrance is being looked into by organisers and further detail will be posted on the Montgomery Wales website.

Whilst volunteers will not be calling at residents’ doorsteps with poppies and collection boxes this year, these will be available in town at Bunners, the Post Office and Spar, as well as at the school for the staff and pupils, and at Llandyssil Bakery, Abermule Stores and St Llwchaiarn’s Church.

At 11am on Wednesday, November 11, Armistice Day, a short service will be held at the Montgomery Town Memorial Garden.