IT’S set to go with a bang this weekend as the heroes of the armed forces are honoured in two days of celebration and commemoration.
The festivities kick off at noon today with a magnificent military beach assault and bridge building exercise on Weymouth Beach.
This will be in the capable hands of the Royal Monmouthshire Royal Engineers (Militia) who are promising “plenty of bangs and splashes”.
This year marks the 300th anniversary of the establishment of the Corps of Engineers, the predecessor to the present day Corps of Royal Engineers. It is also the centenary of the Weymouth branch of the RE.
Later, there will be a ‘1940s comes to Portland’ event from noon to 4pm at Osprey Leisure Centre. Stands and displays full of information from various veteran’s agencies and charity organisations will be on show.
Tomorrow morning there will be a service at the cenotaph before a military parade goes along the seafront to the Pavilion. Setting off at 11am it will see almost 2,000 proud marching veterans, marching bands and more than 80 historic military vehicles.
A flag-raising ceremony to mark Armed Forces Day, which is marked nationally next Saturday, will take place outside the offices of Weymouth and Portland Borough Council on Monday.
Elsewhere over the weekend a different kind of celebration, to honour the humble nettle – or in fact to see how much of it can be eaten – takes place today in west Dorset. The Bottle Inn at Marshwood hosts the World Nettle Eating Championship, which is part of the pub’s beer and cider festival which finishes tomorrow.
Last year’s contest was an epic with new world records being set in both the men’s and women’s events.
Also in west Dorset, today is the last day of the Bridport Food Festival.
Other events include the Hall & Woodhouse Dorset Beer Festival today and Evershot Country Fair tomorrow.
There’s a host of music events too including a pirate party at the Boot in Weymouth, the Dorset Midsummer Music & Food Festival at Bulbarrow and Chesil Rocks music festival at Langton Herring.
CONTACT ME:
t: 01305 830983
e: martin.lea
@dorsetecho.co.uk
twitter: @DorsetEchoMart
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