Remembering the fallen this Sunday
Ceremonies, parades and a carpet of poppies
The country will pause this Sunday to remember the dead from two world wars and other conflicts since.
In Maidstone, there will be the traditional parade of service and youth groups through the town centre to the War Memorial at the Broadway. There will then be a service of Remembrance, including the two-minute silence at 11am and the laying of wreaths, with the Mayor of Maidstone, Cllr Malcolm Greer, playing the first one on behalf of the people of the County Town.
After the service, the parade will march back to the town centre, where the Mayor will take the salute from his dais outside the Town Hall in Jubilee Square.
The parade will form up in Earl Street and Week Street from 10am, and there will be a series of rolling road closures around the area from 9.45am to 12.30pm.
Roads affected will include County Road, Sandling Road between the White Rabbit roundabout and County Hall, Station Road, Week Street, Union Street, Wheeler Street, Church Street, St Faith’s Street and Earl Street. In addition High Street, Wyke Manor Road, Pudding Lane, Bank Street, Gabriels Hill, Mill Street, Lower High Street, the bridge gyratory, Barker Road, St Peter’s Street, Broadway, Rocky Hill and London Road will be involved. They will be reopened as soon as the parade has passed.
Meanwhile, Sutton Valence is having its own parade and service. The parade leaves Sutton Valence School, in North Street, at 10.45am, and reaches the war memorial in time for a two-minute silence and the laying of wreaths at 11am before heading to St Mary’s Church for a service. Roads will be closed between 10.45am and 11.30am.
Also on Sunday, there will be a Remembrance service at the Royal British Legion Village, off Hall Road, Aylesford ,at 2.45pm.
A carpet of more than 7,000 knitted and crocheted poppies will be on display on the slope approaching the Garden of Honour.