Mansfield Remembrance Parades back on this year after commemorations cancelled in 2020 due to lockdown

Last year, the usual parades and services replaced by a small, socially-distanced affairs, while Mansfield’s branch of the Royal British Legion had to adopt a Covid-secure approach to fundraising, with a non-contact ‘honesty box’ in the middle of the Four Seasons Shopping Centre.

Now, Mansfield District Council has announced that the town’s main commemorations will be back next month, along with a raft of other events around the district.

Mansfield mayor Andy Abrahams, the Deputy Lieutenant for Nottinghamshire Col Roger Merryweather, Mansfield MP Ben Bradley and council chief executive Hayley Barsby have been invited to take part in the parade – from 10am to 12noon on Sunday, November 14.

Joining them will be councillors, Royal British Legion representatives, Army Reservists, cadet units, ex-service associations and voluntary organisations. The marching music will be provided by the Pipes and Drums of The Seaforth Highlanders Association.

Poppies on lampposts will line the route for the parade and the council's knitted poppies netting will be displayed on the Old Town Hall ahead of Remembrance Sunday. There will also be soldier silhouettes positioned around the district.

Management of the event has been taken on by the council this year with support from the Royal British Legion.

There will be road closures along the parade route from 9.30am to 12.30pm and everyone taking part in the parade will need to take a Lateral Flow Test for COVID-19.

The Remembrance Sunday commemoration will begin at the Civic Centre War Memorial at 10am with a wreath-laying ceremony.

The parade will set off at about 10.15am from the Civic Centre, heading to St Peter and St Paul’s Church along Rosemary Street, Westfield Lane, West Gate and Market Place and Church Street.

The service, which is for parade participants, will start at about 10.40am and will include a two-minute silence at 11am. There will also be a two-minute silence, led by Joe Martin, of the Mansfield branch of the Royal British Legion, in the Market Place at 11am.

The mayor said: "The parade had to be cancelled last year due to the pandemic so the council was keen to mark this important occasion this year, particularly with it being the 100th year anniversary of the Royal British Legion, to remember all those lost to wars and conflict.

"Maintaining Covid safety at this event remains a priority because the virus is still very much with us. So as well as returning a negative lateral flow test, everyone attending will be expected to maintain social distancing and wear a mask during the church service.”

Separate parades are also set to take place in Warsop, which will include a wreath laying ceremony at 10.50am on 14 at Warsop War Memorial at The Carrs followed by a service; Forest Town, starting at 10:15am from Forest Town Arena; Mansfield Woodhouse, starting at 10am from Yeoman Hill Park; Pleasley Vale, Wreath laying at the village war memorial at 12noon; Clipstone, with a parade from the cricket pavilion beginning at 9.30am; and in Mansfield’s Bellamy Road area, at the South Mansfield Community Centre from 10.30am.

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