Around the county we remember fallen
On November 11, the nation will pay tribute to the men and women who gave their lives in service of their country. This year, the day holds particular significance, as it marks 100 years to the day since the end of the First World War. Here is a round-up
Leicester
The market will come to a standstill today as shoppers and traders pay their respects.
In attendance will be Deputy Lord Mayor of Leicester Annette Byrne, while the service will be conducted by the Reverend Canon Karen Rooms.
At 11am, a bugler will sound The Last Post to mark the beginning of two minutes of silence.
The Remembrance Day service in Victoria Park tomorrow begins with a parade.
Current and former members of the forces will march from De Montfort Hall to the Arch of Remembrance on a route lined with poppies made by children from schools, Guides and Scout associations.
A service led by the Bishop of Leicester, the Rt Rev Martyn Snow, will commence at 10.55am.
Official wreaths will then be laid by the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, the Lord Mayor of Leicester and representatives from emergency services, military units and faith groups.
Sir David Attenborough will also lay a wreath, as will the granddaughters of two women who originally unveiled the Arch of Remembrance in 1925.
Maureen Hill and Janet Irons are the granddaughters of Annie Glover and Elizabeth Butler, who lost seven sons between them in the Great War.
Members of the public can lay their own wreaths at the end of the ceremony.
People will be able to leave messages on a Wall of Remembrance in Coach Drive, at the railings near De Montfort Hall.
Camouflage netting will be put in place, displaying information about local servicemen lost in the Great War, and visitors can add their own messages or name of a loved one to the tribute.
Following the service, members of the public can join Professor Paul Boyle, president and vice-chancellor of the University of Leicester, for the dedication of Centenary Square within the university grounds.
A special service at Leicester Cathedral will mark the centenaries of the First World War Armistice and the founding of Leicester’s first university.
Members of the public are invited to attend the service, which will include a sermon given by Bishop of Loughborough, the Rt Rev Guli Francis-Dehqani.
Ten perspex silhouettes of soldiers will be displayed in the nave as part of the There But Not There project, to represent people who never returned.
The service starts at 4pm.
Knighton
A week of events will culminate tomorrow in The Price of Peace, a son et lumière presentation commemorating the lives of the young men of Knighton who did not return.
This week, five schools have visited St Mary Magdalen Church for craft workshops, studying the lives of servicemen, exploring artefacts from the past, planting poppy seeds and other commemorative activities.
Blaby
Tomorrow, a parade will leave Blaby Civic Centre at 10.40am for the Lutterworth Road War Memorial, where a service will be held from 10.45am.
The service will include the twominute silence and the laying of the wreaths and crosses to remember those who lost their lives.
There will also be a service of remembrance at the war memorial on Northfield Park, at 11am today.
Parades will mean some road closures tomorrow between about 10am and 11.15am in Cosby, Croft, Enderby, Littlethorpe, Stoney Stanton and Whetstone.
Charnwood
There will be parades and remembrance ceremonies tomorrow in Anstey, Birstall, East Goscote, Loughborough, Mountsorrel, Rothley, Shepshed, Syston, Thurmaston and Wymeswold.
In Loughborough tomorrow, the annual Remembrance Day parade will include a two-minute silence at 11am at the Carillon tower.
The parade will then head to the Market Place for the salute and unveiling of a Charnwood Heritage Plaque.
A showcase in the Market Place will feature performances by schools, Loughborough University, theatre groups, singers and storytellers.
There will be a tea dance at Loughborough Town Hall, with a beacon lit in Queen’s Park at 7pm and a recital at the Carillon just after 7pm.
As part of the Quorn commemoration events, New Quorndon Shakespeare Company will be recreating a field hospital in France and paying tribute to girls who signed up to nurse, as well as the doctors, orderlies and the soldiers themselves.
Tea and biscuits will be on offer and Queen Mary will pay a visit.
A vintage shuttle bus will be operated by Great Central Railway and one of the stops will be outside the village hall.
The event takes place from 10am to 4pm today, at Quorn Village Hall
Harborough
Commemorative events take place tomorrow in Broughton Astley, Great Glen, Houghton on the Hill, Kibworth, Lutterworth and Market Harborough.
Hinckley and Bosworth
Events in Hinckley will start with the annual Remembrance Sunday service and parade, at 11am at the war memorial.
There will be a parade from the hospital car park in Mount Road to the war memorial before the service.
The evening events will start at 6.30pm at the Lest we Forget illuminated sign located on the corner of Station Road.
People will then be asked to make their way to Argents Mead for the Last Post at 6.55pm, followed by the lighting of a beacon at 7pm.
St Mary’s Church bells will then ring out at 7.05pm and the evening’s events will come to a conclusion at 7.10pm when Joe David, Hinckley’s Town Crier, will deliver a specially written piece entitled Cry for peace around the world.
Other events are as follows: Barwell – Armistice Day Memorial, Barwell War Memorial, 10am to noon.
Botcheston – Following the service at the war memorial in Desford, there will be a service at Botcheston War Memorial at 12.30pm.
Burbage – Parade from Grove Road to Church Street War Memorial at 10am.
Unveiling of names of First World War servicemen recently added to the war memorial, followed by service at the war memorial at 10.20am and twominute silence at 11am.
Quarter peal of bells begins at St Catherine’s Church from 11.05am. There will be an exhibition, Burbage Fallen at Millennium Hall, from 1.30pm to 4.30pm.
At 2pm and 3.10pm there will be a Concert for Remembrance by Harmonic Voices at Millennium Hall. At 7pm, the lighting of commemorative beacon on Sketchley Hill Farm recreation ground.
A Tommy silhouette will be unveiled at the junction of Leicester Road and Sacheverell Way, Groby, at 11am today.
Desford – Service at the war memorial from 10.30am to 11.30am.
Earl Shilton – Parade at 11am and the lighting of the beacon at Queen Elizabeth II Hallfields Park from 6.30pm.
Market Bosworth – Remembrance Service at war memorial, 11am.
Stoke Golding – Service at St Margaret’s Church followed by the laying of wreaths at Hinckley Road Cemetery.
The 1st Stoke Golding Scout Group will be hosting a Peace Tea at Stoke Golding Village Hall from 11.30am.
Stanton under Bardon – service will take place at the war memorial.
Witherley – parish council will be lighting a beacon.
Melton
Parades and services take place in Melton, with road closures between 10am and noon.
North West Leicestershire
There will be parades and commemoration events in Ashby, Breedon, Castle Donington, Coalville, Ibstock, Kegworth and Long Whatton.
In Coalville tomorrow, the parade leaves Christ Church at 10.35am for the War Memorial in Memorial Square.
After the ceremony, the salute will be taken by Deputy Lieutenant Major Bream outside the council offices, alongside the Chairman of North West Leicestershire District Council, Councillor John Clarke. During the two-minute silence, poppy petals will be released from the top of the Memorial Clock Tower.
A further parade will leave Hermitage leisure centre at 2.15pm, followed by a service at St John the Baptist Church, Whitwick, at 2.30pm.
Oadby and Wigston
Community groups, faith centres and residents have created 83 decorated silhouettes to represent the Oadby men who died.
The silhouettes will be displayed at St Peter’s Centre today, between 10.30am and 3.30pm, and after the Service of Remembrance and wreath laying at the Oadby War Memorial tomorrow, from 11.30am to 4.30pm.
In Oadby, the St Peter’s Church parade starts at 9.45am tomorrow, with a church service at 10am and wreath laying at 11am.
In Wigston, the All Saints Church Parade starts at 10.30am with the service at 10.45am and wreath laying and parade back to Bell Street.
South Wigston’s St Thomas the Apostle Church service starts at 9.45am with wreath laying at 11.30am.
A beacon will be lit at Brocks Hill Country Park, Oadby, at 7pm tomorrow.
Great Central Railway
Great War, Great Central tells the story of the railwaymen who fought and the contribution of the railways to the war effort.
The GCR in Quorn will host displays, talks, music, re-enactors, locomotives and a tank.
A vintage shuttle bus will be operating between the station and Quorn and the Bedfordshire Cavalry re-enactors will be riding through the village.
The event runs from 10am to 4pm, today and tomorrow.