On Sunday 8 November, a parade of ex-service men and women, pre-service and youth organisations will be marching through the Bournemouth town centre and the central gardens to the War Memorial for the service starting at 10.57am. The service holds a special significance this year, being the 70th anniversary of VJ Day.
The Mayor of Bournemouth, Councillor John Adams, JP, will join councillors and civic dignitaries along with service representatives and the public in remembering all victims of war. The council is delighted to welcome the Royal School of Artillery and they will mark the beginning and end of the two minute silence by the firing of a field gun.
The following roads will be closed from 10am until 12 noon: Avenue Road, Bourne Avenue and the lower part of Braidley Road from the bridge to the roundabout.
Access to the gardens will be restricted to those who are taking part in the parade – the pathway must be kept clear at all times. After the civic procession has left the gardens, members of the public will be allowed access to the War Memorial to lay personal tributes if they so wish.
In Christchurch there will be three services for Remembrance. The first is a wreath-laying service at Purewell Cross War Memorial at 9.15am. At 10am Christchurch councillors and officers will join the British Legion parade outside the Old Town Hall in the High Street to process along the High Street and Church Street to the Priory Church. There will be a wreath-laying ceremony at the Garden of Remembrance at 10.15am followed, at 10.50am, by a service in the Priory Church.
In the afternoon, at 2.50pm, the vicar of St Mark’s Church in Highcliffe will lead the choir and the civic party from the church hall in Hinton Wood Avenue to the War Memorial at the church where a wreath-laying ceremony will take place at 3pm. This will be followed by a memorial service in the church at 3.10pm.
There will be free car parking in the Priory car park, Wick Lane car park and Bargates car park from 8am to 2pm and in the Wortley Road car park in Highcliffe from 12 noon to 4pm on Remembrance Sunday.
Remembrance in Wimborne will be held in the afternoon. A parade will leave the Royal British Legion car part at 2.40pm, led by the Wessex Marching Band. After the service at 3pm held in the Minster, wreath laying will take place at the War Memorial led by HM Lord-Lieutenant of Dorset, Mr Angus Campbell.
In Ferndown the parade is also in the afternoon, starting at 2.15pm in Peter Grant Way with the service in St Mary’s Church at 3pm.
In West Moors, the parade through the village starts at 10.30am followed by a service at the War Memorial at the Petwyn.
For anyone not able to attend Remembrance services on 8 November, there is a service on Saturday, 7 November in West Parley Memorial Hall, starting at 10.50am.
