EVENTS to mark the 80th anniversary of VE Day were held across the area in May.
From afternoon tea parties to an evening beacon lighting, there was a mix of celebration and reflection as communities remembered the end of the Second World War in Europe on May 8 1945.
In Mangotsfield, the May Day bank holiday saw the inauguration of the flag pole next to the village war memorial at Alec Large Park, provided by the Mangotsfield Residents Association.
MRA chair and community pastor Clive Heath led a ceremony attended by about 50 people and addressed by Staple Hill & District Royal British Legion chair Ian Campbell and Rev James Cannan of St James Church, with the flag raised by South Gloucestershire cabinet councillor Alison Evans. A full report is on Page 40.
Clive said: “The VE Day celebration was an appropriate time raise the flag, in remembrance of all those that lost their lives in achieving victory, not forgetting those who were injured and whose lives were never the same again.
“The new flag pole and of course the flag are now an addition to the history of Mangotsfield, and a reminder to future generations of what it stands for.”
The ceremony took place during a VE Day 80 celebration at nearby St James Church, where visitors had tea and cake, played games and did crafts.
The event also featured a
one-hour video of wartime Bristol, compiled by church pianist David Miles, and was run by a team of volunteers coordinated by Shirley Nash.
On the evening of the VE Day anniversary an estimated 300 people gathered on Siston Common near Mangotsfield for one of more than 1,000 beacon lighting events held across the country.
The three-hour event, organised by Siston Parish Council, included a picnic, fish and chips – chosen because the traditional takeaway wasn’t rationed during the war.
There was music from Robbie Culley and the Songsmiths Quartet, who sang songs from the 1940s and were joined later in the event by a young guest singer to sing the Commonwealth song during a ceremony led by Rev Rosemary Ratcliffe, curate of St Mary’s Church in Bitton.
The event finished with the lighting of the beacon, timed to coincide with the others held nationwide, with an honour guard from the Royal Observer Corps Association. The corps had a base in Bristol spotting aircraft during the war, before relocating to Lansdown, near Bath, in the 1950s.
Parish council chairman Andrew Stacey said: “The parish council were honoured to host the 80th anniversary VE Day celebration. Around 300 residents across the generations attended the event.
“During the majestic lighting of the beacon, Rob Summerill set the atmosphere playing the last post and the flag bearers lowered the flag. The parish council would like to thank residents for the generous comments and for attending, and to thank all those who helped to bring the event together.”