More than 4,000 people gathered at Spa Gardens and on nearby city streets, as Ripon remembered the dead of two world wars and other conflicts this morning.
Civic services were held at the war memorial and in Ripon Cathedral.
Spa Gardens, which like all other parts of the city was ablaze with thousands of red hand-knitted poppies created by the Ripon Community Poppy Project, provided a fitting backdrop for the ceremony at the memorial.
It was here that Andrew Cowie, president of the Ripon branch of the Royal British Legion, read out almost 400 names that appear on memorials at the gardens and in the cathedral.
Ripon’s civic Remembrance Sunday service attracted a large gathering in Spa Gardens and along city streets leading to the cathedral
Wreaths were laid by the Mayor of Ripon Councillor Eamon Parkin, Ripon councillor and chairman of North Yorkshire County Council Stuart Martin, other dignitaries and representatives of all branches of the armed forces and the emergency services.
Members of the Royal Engineers are pictured in Spa Gardens prior to the start of formal proceedings
More than 200 Royal Engineers from Claro Barracks, were present, alongside retired service men and women and members of the Ripon Branch of the Royal British Legion.
The service included hymns played by Ripon City Band and the Last Post played by a bugler, which preceded the two-minute silence.
A lament by a lone piper, was followed by a prayer read by the Dean of Ripon The Very Revd. John Dobson, for fallen soldiers, sailors, air crew and civilians, who laid down their lives in conflicts across the globe.
A prayer and a blessing were read out respectively, by the Dean of Ripon, and the Bishop of Ripon.
The ceremony concluded with the National Anthem and a blessing from the Bishop of Ripon, the Rt. Revd Dr Helen-Ann Hartley and was followed by a march past from Spa Gardens to the cathedral, where a Remembrance Service was held.
Soldiers of the Royal Engineers took the salute as they passed Ripon Town Hall en route to the cathedral service
The march past was led by the Royal Engineers – whose regiment has enjoyed the Freedom of the city since 1949 and continues to maintain a significant presence in Ripon.
Soldiers and all of those who followed behind them, were saluted, and applauded as they passed the town hall.
Read more:
- Art installation is reminder of Ripon’s role in World War I
- Dean blesses Ripon’s Garden of Remembrance
