Remembrance Sunday: Hundreds gather for services across the north

Services have been held across the north of England to remember those who fought and died in past conflicts.

Thousands of people attended annual parades and wreath laying ceremonies in Tyneside, Wearside, Teesside and Cumbria and smaller commemorations in villages and towns.

A national two-minute silence was held at 11:00 GMT.

The Bishop of Newcastle, the Right Reverend Christine Hardman said it was a privilege to lead the city's service.

"We need to remember our history, really to give thanks for those whose lives who went through a period that would make Covid look like nothing," she said.

"We need to remember them, we need to honour them and we need to pray that we will never have that kind of conflict ever again."

After the pandemic forced acts of remembrance to be cancelled or dramatically scaled back services have taken place across the country.

Sunderland traditionally has the largest parade outside London with hundreds of people lining the streets.

Sunderland Mayor Harry Trueman said it was an "important opportunity for the whole city" to pay tribute to those "gave up their lives for their country".

"I know that last year many people really missed being able to mark Remembrance Sunday by attending the service and parade at the war memorial," he said.

Nora High from Seaham worked on anti-aircraft guns on the south coast as a 17-year-old.

Now 96, she said it was important to teach young people "to try and live together" to avoid future wars.

"You didn't have time to be scared - you were trained and you knew your job and you had to do it," she said.

"It's just now I think it was horrible.

"I get a bit maudlin when I'm sitting on my own and I think back to all the friends and people I lost."

In Parton in Cumbria residents gathered by a war memorial which stands in front of a hill that, earlier in the year, seemed in danger of sliding down into the village.

Parish council clerk Jane Coltman said people who had gathered in the square to support each other in July had come together again on Remembrance Sunday "with their heads bowed and their backs turned to the hill, instead facing the war memorial that has stood at the heart of the community for 100 years".

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