Remembrance Day Thousands join service
THOUSANDS of people attended a moving Remembrance Day service at Bristol Cenotaph in the city centre yesterday.
The event began with a parade, led by 39 Signal Regiment based at the Army Reserve Centre in Horfield, down from College Green.
Crowds followed a brass band, pipers and the Army reserves along Anchor Road and across to Colston Avenue.
Although the service was allowed to go ahead this year with no restrictions, the Lord Mayor of Bristol, Steve Smith, encouraged people to be “extra cautious” with regard to Covid.
Director for Communities and Public Health, Christina Gray, urged people to take a lateral flow test before attending the event and to wear a mask if they could not social distance.
A number of roads were closed around the city centre to allow the service to take place, reopening at 1pm. As the bands, veterans and armed forces gathered around the war memorial in the run-up to 11am, throngs of people took their places outside the barriers on Colston Avenue.
Young and old turned out to honour the fallen and clapped the servicemen and women who passed by.
The last few minutes before 11am were filled with sombre hymns, played by the brass band, as flag-bearers solemnly watched over the Cenotaph.
As the clock struck 11, a gun was fired and the city fell silent at once. During that time, all that could be heard were the seagulls circling overhead and the wind in the trees.
Then, as this reflective act of remembrance drew to a close, a solo trumpet played the Last Post in what was a truly moving moment.
A reading of Laurence Binyon’s poem For The Fallen followed, then political and religious leaders came forward to lay wreaths on the steps of the Cenotaph.
War veterans and leaders of the armed forces also paid tribute to the fallen by laying their own poppy wreaths.
Hymns, prayers and words of wisdom from the city’s religious leaders concluded the service and then the brass band set off on their return to College Green, followed by the rest of the group around the Cenotaph.
People clapped and cheered as the bands, military units, cadet contingents and veterans marched past.