Keswick’s Remembrance Sunday service will go ahead this weekend – but people are being asked to stay away due to COVID-19 restrictions.
The Reverend Charles Hope, vicar of St John’s Church in Keswick, will conduct what he described as a simple ceremony at the war memorial in Penrith Road from 10.50am.
Mr Hope, who served in Iraq in 2004 with the British Army’s 207 field hospital and who was padre with 102 Battalion the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers, said: “It will be a short service. Sadly, we would ask you not to attend. There is not much space at the memorial to keep people safe.”
He will be accompanied at the “small gathering” by Keswick mayor Paul Titley and one of Cumbria’s Deputy Lord Lieutenants, along with representatives of armed forces veterans.
Mr Hope said that the service would be in line with the Government’s current guidance for remembrance day gatherings during coronavirus.
He added: “There will also be a live stream on St John’s Church Facebook and the church will be open for private and individual prayers during daylight hours. Anyone wishing to lay wreaths at the war memorial will be able to do so at any other time in a quiet and respectful manner.”
There will also be a similar morning service at the war memorial next Wednesday, which is Remembrance Day.
