Moving and emotional commemoration at Wootton Bassett this weekend
Final arrangements are now being put in place for this weekend’s moving and emotional commemoration at Wootton Bassett. On Sunday (October 16) the town will receive the Letters Patent on behalf of Her Majesty the Queen and will become Royal Wootton Bassett. Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will be received by the Lord Lieutenant, Mr John Bush, OBE, KStJ. The town’s Mayor, Councillor Paul Heaphy, will then invite Her Royal Highness into the library to view the Exhibition of Appreciation Gifts received by the town in recognition of the support to repatriated servicemen and their families.
Following this Her Royal Highness will be driven down the High Street to the stage for the parade and the presentation of the Letters Patent. Wootton Bassett’s award winning town crier, Owen Collier will announce Her Royal Highness as she arrives in the High Street.
The Commemoration will include parade troops, the Wootton Bassett Band and the Royal Marines Band. Following speeches the flag bearer will break the new Royal Wootton Bassett flag, a ceremonial and historic moment when the new flag is raised for the first time after the presentation of the Letters Patent. The Master of Ceremonies, Councillor Steve Bucknell will then invite Canon Thomas Woodhouse to bless the town’s new Coat of Arms.
Weather permitting, there will be flypasts during the day by a Globemaster, a Hercules and later on at around 4.00pm by a Vulcan bomber.
The formal event will take place between 1.30pm and 3.00pm. Large screens will be placed in the High Street so that visitors can view the events as they are taking place.
Johnathan Bourne, Clerk to Wootton Bassett Town Council said “I hope that many people will come to share this significant event for the town. A lot of hard work has gone into making this a really special day for the people of Wootton Bassett and I hope everyone enjoys it.”
