THE SUN shone on the final of the three Colne Town Council Colne Commemorates events and visitors filled the town throughout the day.
Many shops got into the spirit of the event, by dressing their staff in period costume, with the Co-op even staging a traditional display outside its shop.
The parade was watched by many. Led by the City of Bradford Pipe Band, eight mayors and mayoresses, Pendle’s MP, councillors, clergy, veterans, scouts and guides, it was joined by hundreds of residents and visitors at the War Memorial where a short service was held.
Smaller venues, like The Little Theatre, were filled to capacity all day, while The Hippodrome, St. Bartholomew’s and The Library were very busy, as families, in particular, came to see the moving re-enactments, activities, exhibitions, music and period fashion show,
Resident Julie Illingworth said: “What a brilliant day it was on Saturdayto commemorate the end of WW1. Although the day was about enjoying ourselves with the many and varied activities on offer, it seemed to me that the thoughts of people were never too far away from the men who never came home. Thank you for putting on such a brilliant event.”
Eleanor Jolley, event co-ordinator for the Town Council said: “Naturally, we are immensely grateful to the Heritage Lottery Fund for providing the funding that allowed us to stage such an ambitious finale to our Colne Commemorates series. We’d also like to thank our dozens of volunteers across our many venues and sub projects. We have received a lot of compliments which were due, in no small part, to the hard work of our volunteers. The whole Event looked and sounded wonderful and there was a real buzz throughout town.
“There were some touching stories shared: when I was at the Ambulance Hall, a woman approached me whose grandfather was in the St John’s Ambulance and who had marched from there to the railway station on the first day of the war, as the first group of men to leave Colne. She was carrying a photo of him to show me and I showed her the original items we still have from the Hall.”
Resident Carole Taylor Berrycommented: “Well done to the organisers. It was a great day with a very good turn-out. Good to see the sacrifices made by so many are not forgotten. Hopefully, all the children who came will have learned much about the Great War.”
Cllr Sarah Cockburn-Price concluded: “Thanks are due to so many people for pulling together on this massive, multi-venue event, but I would especially like to thank Eleanor and our Town Council officers, who went above and beyond. I hope people will call in at our exhibition at the Town Hall in November, which is the final element of the Colne Commemorates series.”
