Residents in Burnham-On-Sea and Highbridge attended events to celebrate Somerset Day on Saturday (May 11th).
A family fun day was held at the Morland Hall Community Hub in Pearce Drive, Highbridge, attended by Mayor Cllr Lesley Millard and dozens of residents through the day.
Organisers from Morland Entertainment Group said the event had been a “great success,” boosted by a warm day of sunny weather.
“We welcomed local families for a day of fun, with games, music, a tractor and police display, food and drink and stalls.”
Separately, Burnham’s Abbeyfield residential home held an outdoor celebrartion attended by residents and local supporters, including Town Crier Alastair Murray and the Mayor.
Somerset Day is celebrated annually over the second weekend in May. It marks Alfred the Great’s call to arms and the gathering of ‘all the people of Somerset’ to march against the invading Viking army, and is now an annual opportunity to celebrate all that is ‘great’ about Somerset and its residents and communities.
Alfred is the only Monarch to have been called the Great and following his defeat of the Danes is regarded by many to be the first King of England. By the 890s Alfred’s charters and coinage were referring to him as ‘King of the English’. The date was chosen by an online poll in 2015 in which over 8,000 people voted.
