North Wootton and the local community came together to party like it was 1945 on Saturday 10th May at the Village Hall’s VE Day 80th Anniversary Celebration.
To mark the historic moment the Second World War ended in Europe in 1945, North Wootton Village Hall played host to a week of events.
VE Day celebrations in the village kicked off with a village wide scarecrow trail competition. Residents created and displayed Victory in Europe themed scarecrows, and locals cast over 700 individual votes for their favourite entries over the course of the week.
More solemn events took place on the anniversary of VE Day itself, Thursday 8th May. At 9am, locals gathered to see the VE Day Flag raised in front of the Village Hall, and the VE Day Proclamation was read aloud by the Village Hall Committee’s Chairman, Dennis Blackmore.
North Wootton Village Hall then joined over 1000 other locations across the UK at 9:30pm and lit a beacon, the flame representing the end of the darkness of war. The community watched on as Antony Lamb, Events Organiser for the Village Hall, lit the flame and joined together in singing “I Vow To Thee My Country”.
At 11am on Saturday 10th May, Priory Lane was closed to traffic and the local community came together in celebration as King’s Lynn and West Norfolk Mayor, Cllr Paul Bland, declared the street party officially open. Entertained with wartime classics sung by singer Kelly Ann and performed by The Eddie Seales Big Band, the crowd were treated to a Hurricane flypast from the Battle of Britain Memorial Flypast approaching 3pm. Many took the opportunity to dress in 1940s costume while enjoying the sunshine.
Vehicles from the era were on display alongside wartime memorabilia and posters, and the Mayor unveiled a plaque commemorating the event. At 4pm, Andrew Stevenson from Hawkins Ryan Solicitors who sponsored the Scarecrow Trail presented prizes to the winning entries. The public vote saw “The Rushtons”, “Aycliffe”, “The OG’s”, and “The Chad Family” take the top spots before first place was awarded to “Aycliffe” and second place to “The OGs”.
Event Organiser, Antony Lamb, said: “The Hurricane Flypast brought tears to my eyes. The community really did come together – it was wonderful to see. It’s important that we take the opportunity where we can to remember the sacrifices made by so many during the war, and so it was especially lovely to hear how the events held here this week have opened up conversations, story telling, and remembrance within our community.”.
Dennis Blackmore said: “I believe that we achieved something very special. True, we organised and executed an impressive event thanks to the diligent and good-natured effort of committee members and friends of the committee. However we achieved more than that; we brought our community together in one sweet sunny afternoon of celebration and friendship with the village hall at its heart. In that we created a fitting tribute to the Greatest Generation who bought us our freedom.”.
THANK YOU to everyone who took part and attended.
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