Remembrance Sunday will be marked in the Burnham-On-Sea area today with scaled-back commemorations due to the lockdown.
The usual parades and large ceremonies will not be going ahead due to Covid safety guidelines, however several online ceremonies will be held and a fly-past of planes will go ahead as planned – read more here.
Burnham-On-Sea.com has spoken to the organisers of the local events to find out what is happening locally this weekend.
Burnham-On-Sea
Wreaths will be laid by several groups during today at the war memorial in Burnham’s Love Lane, but not at 11am as in previous years.
But John Crosby of Burnham’s branch of the Royal British Legion says: “Unfortunately we can’t go ahead with our usual event this year in order to comply with the Covid guidance. We won’t be holding a ceremony this year. Thank you for your understanding – we hope things are back to normal for next year.”
Highbridge
Rev Dan Crouch of St John’s Church in Highbridge says: “Having considered the latest guidance carefully, it is clear that places of worship cannot hold services (except funerals), so we briefly considered the possibility of an outdoor service. However, the location of the war memorial in Highbridge means to hold an outdoor service safely would be very challenging. It would be impossible to have appropriate social distancing and for people to still be in view of the memorial.”
“Therefore, we are encouraging people to pay their respects independently this year and to remember either from the safety of their own homes, or to attend the war memorial briefly throughout the day. There will be no organised service or act of remembrance. The church building will be open on Sunday from 2pm to 4pm for private prayer (with our covid-risk-reduced measures in place) and there will be a display of poppies in the churchyard.”
Berrow and Brean
Rev Jonathan Philpott, Priest-in-Charge, Benefice of Berrow and Brean, says: “We have pre-recorded a Remembrance Sunday service which will be on our YouTube Channel on Sunday at 10.50am. All are welcome to join in watching the service. If people do not have access to the internet, we are also encouraging people to come out onto their drives at 11am to observe a two-minute silence in the same way as we did for the NHS during the first lockdown.”
