News

Rec Commemoration Day

An important event took place on Sunday afternoon on the 22nd May at the Recreation Ground. A large crowd turned out, despite torrential rain, to see the unveiling of a large stone placed to commemorate the purchase of the Rec in 1947 by members of the community as a memorial to the six men from the parish who lost their lives in the Second World War.

Richard Pett started the ceremony by giving a talk on the history of the piece of field that is affectionately known as the Rec pointing out that not many of the inhabitants of the village today know that it is in fact a war memorial. A collection was set up in 1947 and £600 was raised that was used to purchase the field "to be used by the villagers forever".

Mr. Sweet, from May Hill, who is the oldest serving member of the British Legion in the parish, made a speech and unveiled the 4-ton stone, donated by George Read. Reverend Martin Thompson blessed the stone and young Christopher Jones sounded the Last Post.

Earlier in the day a time capsule that had been assembled by the children of Hope Brook C of E Primary School was buried in the ground before Richard Read and his heavy-lifting crane positioned the stone on top. Some children laid a cross at the ceremony, one for each of the six servicemen, followed by a wreath from the British Legion.

Dave East pointed out to the assembled crowd that it was nice to see that some permanent memorial had at last been added to an asset that the village tends to take for granted, but hopefully will remain for future generations.

Selected Pictures from the Day

Some of the assembled crowd listening to Richard Pett	Mr. Sweet unveiling the stone	Christopher Jones plays the Last Post
Hope Brook C of E School pupils laying their crosses	The commemorative plaques (we will take some better ones just as soon as it stops raining)